Auffinger Pascal, D'Ascenzo Luigi, Ennifar Eric
Architecture et Réactivité de l'ARN, Université de Strasbourg, IBMC, CNRS, 15 rue René Descartes, F-67084, Strasbourg, France.
Met Ions Life Sci. 2016;16:167-201. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-21756-7_6.
Metal ions are essential cofactors for the structure and functions of nucleic acids. Yet, the early discovery in the 70s of the crucial role of Mg(2+) in stabilizing tRNA structures has occulted for a long time the importance of monovalent cations. Renewed interest in these ions was brought in the late 90s by the discovery of specific potassium metal ions in the core of a group I intron. Their importance in nucleic acid folding and catalytic activity is now well established. However, detection of K(+) and Na(+) ions is notoriously problematic and the question about their specificity is recurrent. Here we review the different methods that can be used to detect K(+) and Na(+) ions in nucleic acid structures such as X-ray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance or molecular dynamics simulations. We also discuss specific versus non-specific binding to different structures through various examples.
金属离子是核酸结构和功能所必需的辅助因子。然而，20世纪70年代早期对Mg(2+)在稳定tRNA结构中的关键作用的发现，长期以来掩盖了单价阳离子的重要性。20世纪90年代后期，通过在I组内含子核心中发现特定的钾金属离子，人们对这些离子重新产生了兴趣。它们在核酸折叠和催化活性中的重要性现已得到充分证实。然而，检测K(+)和Na(+)离子存在众所周知的问题，关于它们特异性的问题反复出现。在这里，我们综述了可用于检测核酸结构中K(+)和Na(+)离子的不同方法，如X射线晶体学、核磁共振或分子动力学模拟。我们还通过各种实例讨论了与不同结构的特异性结合与非特异性结合。
