Metal-Dependent DNA Base Pairing of 5-Carboxyuracil with Itself and All Four Canonical Nucleobases

J Am Chem Soc. 2020 Dec 30;142(52):21640-21644. doi: 10.1021/jacs.0c11437. Epub 2020 Dec 18.

Abstract

A 5-carboxyuracil (caU) nucleobase was found to pair not only with A (caU-A) by hydrogen bonding but also with other DNA nucleobases by metal coordination bonding. Metal-dependent formation of caU-CuII-caU, caU-HgII-T, caU-AgI-C, and caU-CuII-G pairs was demonstrated by duplex melting analysis and mass spectrometry. The duplexes containing caU-X (X = caU, T, C, and G) were significantly stabilized in the presence of the corresponding metal ions, while the DNA duplexes containing the caU-A pairs were destabilized by the addition of CuII. These results suggest that the hybridization partner of caU-containing DNA strands can be altered by metal complexation. As a result, this study provides a new direction to integrate caU nucleobases to construct diverse metallo-DNA supramolecules and metal-responsive DNA devices.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Base Pairing*
  • DNA / chemistry*
  • Hydrogen Bonding
  • Metals, Heavy / chemistry*
  • Models, Molecular
  • Nucleic Acid Hybridization
  • Uracil / chemistry*

Substances

  • Metals, Heavy
  • Uracil
  • DNA