Thermodynamics of the formation of Ag(I)-mediated azole base pairs in DNA duplexes.

Isothermal titration calorimetry was applied to determine the thermodynamic parameters for the specific binding of Ag(I) ions to a series of DNA duplexes comprising Im:Im or Tr:Tr mispairs to form metal-mediated Im-Ag(I)-Im or Tr-Ag(I)-Tr base pairs (Im=imidazole nucleoside; Tr=1.2,4-triazole nucleoside). A total of seven different duplexes are discussed, incorporating one to three artificial base pairs in neighboring or non-neighboring positions. The association constant related to the formation of Tr-Ag(I)-Tr base pairs is estimated to be <10(3)M(-1). In contrast, Im-Ag(I)-Im base pairs are much more stable. The intrinsic association constant for their formation is in the order of 10(6)M(-1) and is therefore larger than that for the formation of T-Hg(II)-T and C-Ag(I)-C base pairs consisting of natural nucleobases. Two neighboring Im-Ag(I)-Im base pairs form cooperatively, whereas two remotely located Im-Ag(I)-Im base pairs form non-cooperatively. In general, the specific binding of Ag(I) to Im:Im-containing duplexes is enthalpically driven, with a significant additional entropic contribution in most cases.