Work

Multivalent cations stabilize DNA duplexes beyond charge neutralization

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: /bp for protamine, which is a small arginine-rich protein with a highly positive charge (≈21 for salmon sperm), corresponding to a relative increase of 19.5%. Consistently, all-atom molecular dynamics simulations show that higher-valent cations preferentially embed in the minor groove of DNA and clamp the minor groove, in contrast to the major-groove clamping reported for RNA, thereby stabilizing the helix more efficiently. These findings establish a single-molecule framework for quantifying DNA thermodynamics in complex ionic environments, which contributes to understanding ionic control of genome stability and to designing ion-tunable DNA-based nanostructures and delivery systems.

Source: Chemical Science

DOI: 10.1039/d6sc03808e

Authors: Yun-Long Chen, Chen-Chen Zheng, Yan Zhang, Zhi-Jie Tan, Xing-Hua Zhang

Institutions: Wuhan University, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Zhejiang University of Technology

Language: English

Topic: DNA and Nucleic Acid Chemistry

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: diamond

Funders: National Natural Science Foundation of China, Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province, Wuhan University