Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the structure and function of DNA. DNA occupies a critical role in cells, because it is the source of all intrinsic genetic information. Chemically, DNA is a very stable molecule, a characteristic important for a macromolecule that may have to persist in an intact form for a long period of time before its information is accessed by the cell. Although DNA plays a critical role as an informational storage molecule, it is by no means as unexciting as a computer tape or disk drive. The structure of the DNA described by Watson and Crick in 1953 is a right handed helix of two individual antiparallel DNA strands. Hydrogen bonds provide specificity that allows pairing between the complementary bases (A.T and G.C) in opposite strands. Base stacking occurs near the center of the DNA helix and provides a great deal of stability to the helix (in addition to hydrogen bonding). The sugar and phosphate groups form a “backbone” on the outside of the helix. There are about 10 base pairs (bp) per turn of the double helix.

DNA Structure and Function

Specific regulation of gene expression by antisense, sense and antigene nucleic acids.

Kearns-Sayre syndrome (KSS) and progressive external ophthalmoplegia (PEO) are related neuromuscular disorders characterized by ocular myopathy and ophthalmoplegia. Almost all patients with KSS and about half with PEO harbor large deletions in their mitochondrial genomes. The deletions differ in both size and location, except for one, 5 kilobases long, that is found in more than one-third of all patients examined. This common deletion was found to be flanked by a perfect 13-base pair direct repeat in the normal mitochondrial genome. This result suggests that homologous recombination deleting large regions of intervening mitochondrial DNA, which previously had been observed only in lower eukaryotes and plants, operates in mammalian mitochondrial genomes as well, and is at least one cause of the deletions found in these two related mitochondrial myopathies.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/244/4902/346.full.pdf

A direct repeat is a hotspot for large-scale deletion of human mitochondrial DNA

A human gene encoding the c-myc purine-binding transcription factor PuF was identified by screening of a cervical carcinoma cell complementary DNA library with a DNA fragment containing PuF binding sites. The 17-kilodalton bacterially produced PuF was shown to have biological activity and properties similar to that of human PuF. DNA sequence analysis of recombinant PuF revealed perfect identity with the human nm23-H2 nucleoside diphosphate kinase gene, a potential negative regulator of cancer metastasis. These results provide a link between nm23 and the c-myc oncogene and suggest that the nm23 protein can function in vitro in the transcriptional regulation of c-myc expression.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/261/5120/478.full.pdf

Human c-myc transcription factor PuF identified as nm23-H2 nucleoside diphosphate kinase, a candidate suppressor of tumor metastasis

A family of unusual DNA structures has been discovered in segments with predominantly purines in one strand (pur.pyr sequences). These sequences are overrepresented in eukaryotic DNA and have been mapped near genes and recombination hot spots. When cloned into recombinant plasmids, many pur.pyr sequences are reactive to chemical and enzymic probes that are generally specific for single-stranded DNA. An intramolecular triplex is adopted by mirror repeats of G's and A's. Other non-B DNA structures adopted by similar sequences remain to be fully clarified but may be a family of related conformations. It is likely that these unorthodox structures play an important role in the function of the eukaryotic genome.

The chemistry and biology of unusual DNA structures adopted by oligopurine.oligopyrimidine sequences.

A series of inserts with oligopurine.oligopyrimidine mirror repeat sequences was investigated at the base pair level with specific chemical probes (OsO4 and diethylpyrocarbonate) to evaluate the in vitro existence of intramolecular triplexes. Two parent inserts in recombinant plasmids with (GAA)9 and (AG)12 sequences and three mutant inserts (containing transitions or transversions) revealed that base pair changes at one location affected the chemical reactivity 13 base pairs away. The specificity and nature of these reactions, as well as the thermal stability of the complexes, provide direct evidence for the existence of a triplex with a portion of the pyrimidine-rich strand folded back and Hoogsteen-paired in the major groove of the Watson-Crick duplex. The biological implications of this unorthodox DNA structure are discussed.

Jeffery C. Hanvey

Papers

The chemistry and biology of unusual DNA structures adopted by oligopurine.oligopyrimidine sequences.

Intramolecular DNA triplexes in supercoiled plasmids.

Influence of DNA sequence on the formation of non-B right-handed helices in oligopurine.oligopyrimidine inserts in plasmids.

Intramolecular DNA triplexes in supercoiled plasmids. I. Effect of loop size on formation and stability.

Intramolecular DNA triplexes in supercoiled plasmids. II. Effect of base composition and noncentral interruptions on formation and stability.