Influence of DNA Mispairing and Abasic Sites on Duplex Dynamics: A Temperature-Jump Infrared Spectroscopy Study
Abstract
The dynamics of double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) are central to its biological role as a repository of genetic information. However, under physiological conditions DNA is subject to base mispairing and the formation of abasic sites through processes such as depurination. Such site-specific changes to the established Watson-Crick (WC) architecture would be expected to influence duplex dynamics and so affect key processes including protein binding. Here, we apply temperature-jump infrared spectroscopy to interrogate the relative impact of base pair mismatches and abasic sites on the structural dynamics of a 21-base pair (bp) dsDNA oligomer. The inclusion of an abasic site in the center of the strand leads to destabilization that is manifest as
Fields of Study & Subjects
DNA and Nucleic Acid Chemistry
Metal complexes synthesis and properties
RNA Interference and Gene Delivery
Publication details
- Journal / source
- The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Volume
- 17
- Issue
- 25
- Pages
- 7111–7119
- Publication date
- 10 June 2026
- Language
- EN