Theoretical study on the relationship between Rp-phosphorothioation and base-step in S-DNA: based on energetic and structural analysis

J Phys Chem B. 2015 Jan 15;119(2):474-81. doi: 10.1021/jp511359e. Epub 2014 Dec 31.

Abstract

Phosphorothioation (PT), previously used in synthetic antisense drugs to arrest the transcription or translation process, is also a novel physiological modification in bacteria DNAs. In the previous study, we reported that Rp-phosphorothioation (Rp-PT) destabilizes B-type helix significantly, using a quantum-mechanics-based energy scoring function developed with a dinucleotide model ( Zhang et al. J. Phys. Chem. B , 2012 , 116 , 10639 - 10648 ). A consequent question surfaces in the field of the phosphorothioated DNA (S-DNA) research: does the endogenous chemical modification interact with the base sequence in the bacterial genomes, e.g., in terms of the most common structure of the B-type helix? In this work, we carried out further energetic analysis on the backbone relative energies calculated with the scoring function according to 16 groups of base-step classifications. Moreover, we conducted molecular dynamics simulations of the B-helical structure with the different base-pair steps, to investigate the detailed structural changes upon the O-/S-substitution. As a result, the Rp-PT modification definitively enhances the stiffness of the backbone and differentiates backbone stability as an interaction with base-steps. Furthermore, certain exceptional sequences such as GT and CC were highlighted in the structural analysis of the sulfur local contacts and relative orientation of double strands, indicating that Rp-PT can cross-talk with particular base-steps. The special effects between the phosphorothioation and base-step may be related to the conservative consensus observed highly frequently in bacterial genomes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Base Pairing*
  • DNA, B-Form / chemistry
  • DNA, Bacterial / chemistry*
  • Molecular Dynamics Simulation*
  • Oxygen / chemistry
  • Sulfur / chemistry*
  • Thermodynamics

Substances

  • DNA, B-Form
  • DNA, Bacterial
  • Sulfur
  • Oxygen