Kornyshev A A, Leikin S
Research Center "Jülich," D-52425 Jülich, Germany.
Biophys J. 1998 Nov;75(5):2513-9. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(98)77696-9.
The power of symmetry laws is applied in many scientific areas from elementary particle physics to structural biology. The structures of many biological helices, including DNA, were resolved with the use of pertinent symmetry constraints. It was not recognized, however, that similar constraints determine cardinal features of helix-helix interactions vital for many recognition and assembly reactions in living cells. We now formulate such symmetry-determined interaction laws and apply them to explain DNA "over-winding" from 10.5 base pairs per turn in solution to 10 in hydrated fibers, counterion specificity in DNA condensation, and forces observed over the last 15 A of separation between DNA, collagen, and four-stranded guanosine helices.
对称定律的力量在从基本粒子物理到结构生物学的许多科学领域都有应用。包括DNA在内的许多生物螺旋结构都是利用相关的对称约束得以解析的。然而,人们尚未认识到,类似的约束决定了螺旋-螺旋相互作用的基本特征,而这些特征对于活细胞中的许多识别和组装反应至关重要。我们现在制定了这种由对称性决定的相互作用定律,并将其应用于解释DNA从溶液中每圈10.5个碱基对转变为水合纤维中每圈10个碱基对的“过度缠绕”现象、DNA凝聚过程中的抗衡离子特异性,以及在DNA、胶原蛋白和四链鸟苷螺旋之间最后15埃分离距离上观察到的力。