Institute of Genomics and Bioinformatics, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan.
Ph.D. Program in Medical Biotechnology, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan.
Nucleic Acids Res. 2018 Jul 27;46(13):6416-6434. doi: 10.1093/nar/gky561.
The structure of the DNA duplex is arguably one of the most important biological structures elucidated in modern history. DNA duplex structure is closely associated with essential biological functions such as DNA replication and RNA transcription. In addition to the classical A-, B- and Z-DNA conformations, DNA duplexes are capable of assuming a variety of alternative conformations depending on the sequence and environmental context. A considerable number of these unusual DNA duplex structures have been identified in the past decade, and some of them have been found to be closely associated with different biological functions and pathological conditions. In this manuscript, we review a selection of unusual DNA duplex structures, particularly those originating from base pair mismatch, repetitive sequence motifs and ligand-induced structures. Although the biological significance of these novel structures has not yet been established in most cases, the illustrated conformational versatility of DNA could have relevance for pharmaceutical or nanotechnology development. A perspective on the future directions of this field is also presented.
DNA 双链结构可以说是现代历史上阐明的最重要的生物结构之一。DNA 双链结构与 DNA 复制和 RNA 转录等重要的生物学功能密切相关。除了经典的 A、B 和 Z-DNA 构象外，DNA 双链还能够根据序列和环境上下文呈现多种替代构象。在过去的十年中，已经鉴定出相当数量的这些不寻常的 DNA 双链结构，其中一些已经被发现与不同的生物学功能和病理状况密切相关。在本文中，我们回顾了一些不寻常的 DNA 双链结构，特别是那些源自碱基对错配、重复序列基序和配体诱导结构的结构。尽管在大多数情况下，这些新结构的生物学意义尚未确定，但 DNA 的这种构象灵活性可能与药物或纳米技术的发展有关。本文还对该领域的未来发展方向进行了展望。
