Sequence-dependent structural properties of B-DNA: what have we learned in 40 years?

ABSTRACT: The structure of B-DNA, the physiological form of the DNA molecule, has been a central topic in biology, chemistry and physics. Far from uniform and rigid, the double helix was revealed as a flexible and structurally polymorphic molecule. Conformational changes that lead to local and global changes in the helix geometry are mediated by a complex choreography of base and backbone rearrangements affecting the ability of the B-DNA to recognize ligands and consequently on its functionality. In this sense, the knowledge obtained from the sequence-dependent structural properties of B-DNA has always been thought crucial to rationalize how ligands and, most notably, proteins recognize B-DNA and modulate its activity, i.e. the structural basis of gene regulation. Honouring the anniversary of the fi

SUBMITTER: da Rosa G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8724355 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature