Flipping of cloned d(pCpG)n.d(pCpG)n DNA sequences from right- to left-handed helical structure by salt, Co(III), or negative supercoiling.
Year: 1982
Type: article
Abstract: Negative supercoiling of plasmid DNAs containing 24--42 base pairs of alternating d(pCpG) inserts is shown to cause the flipping of the helical hand of the inserts from right to left under physiological conditions. For a negatively supercoiled DNA with a fixed linking number, this flipping reduces its superhelicity and, therefore, is accompanied by a shift of its electrophoretic mobility in agarose gel. Quantitation of the mobility shifts indicates that essentially the whole stretch of contiguous alternating d(pCpG) flips to the left-handed helical form when the negative superhelical density (specific linking difference) is greatest than or equal to 0.03.
Authors: L J Peck, A Nordheim, A Rich, J C Wang
Institutions: Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2091489838