biostudies-literatureNishio TJapan Society for the Promotion of Sciencee0238447https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC7470421biostudies-literatureUnknown15(9)<h4>Background</h4>Polyamines are involved in a wide variety of biological processes including a marked effect on the structure and function of DNA. During our study on the interaction of polyamines with DNA, we found that K+ enhanced in vitro gene expression in the presence of polyamine more strongly than Na+. Thus, we sought to clarify the physico-chemical mechanism underlying this marked difference between the effects of K+ and Na+.<h4>Principal findings</h4>It was found that K+ enhanced gene expression in the presence of spermidine, SPD(3+), much more strongly than Na+, through in vitro experiments with a Luciferase assay on cell extracts. Single-DNA observation by fluorescence microscopy showed that Na+ prevents the folding transition of DNA into a compact state more strongly than K+.PloS oneK+ promotes the favorable effect of polyamine on gene expression better than Na.PMC7470421JP20H01877Yoshikawa YSadakane KNishio TSugino KOe YYoshikawa KMatsumoto MfalseK+ promotes the favorable effect of polyamine on gene expression better than Na.<h4>Background</h4>Polyamines are involved in a wide variety of biological processes including a marked effect on the structure and function of DNA. During our study on the interaction of polyamines with DNA, we found that K+ enhanced in vitro gene expression in the presence of polyamine more strongly than Na+. Thus, we sought to clarify the physico-chemical mechanism underlying this marked difference between the effects of K+ and Na+.<h4>Principal findings</h4>It was found that K+ enhanced gene expression in the presence of spermidine, SPD(3+), much more strongly than Na+, through in vitro experiments with a Luciferase assay on cell extracts. Single-DNA observation by fluorescence microscopy showed that Na+ prevents the folding transition of DNA into a compact state more strongly than K+.2020-01-01T00:00:00Z20202025-05-29T19:37:25.551Z2025-05-29T19:37:25.551ZS-EPMC74704213288190910.1371/journal.pone.0238447