"Small is beautiful": Major modifications in DNA structure or dynamics by small substituents or ligands

Abstract

This short review assembles the contributions of the author's laboratory to the structural aspects of DNA. DNA was modified by small ligands and/or substituents. There are three aspects to this work: a) Protonation of guanosine and DNA and the formation of triple- and quadruple-strands of guanosine, its nucleotides, their polymers and DNA. b) Substitution of the 2′-position of deoxyribose by the most polar atom, fluorine: studies on 2′-deoxy-2′-fluoro-nucleosides, -nucleotides and their polymers, studied both by structural and biological methods. c) The effect of introducing the methyl group in the large groove of DNA: NMR studies of oligonucleotides containing N6-methylated adenine residues, and enzymatic and molecular biology work on Dam methylase are reported.