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Scanning tunnelling microscopy of Z-DNA

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Abstract

SCANNING tunnelling microscopy (STM) has been used to map the surface topography of inorganic materials at the atomic level, and is potentially one of the most powerful techniques for probing biomolecular structure1–3. Recent STM studies of calf thymus DNA4,5and poly(rA) · poly(rU)5 have shown that the helical pitch and periodic alternation of major and minor grooves can be visualized and reliably measured. Here we present the first STM images of poly(dG-me5d) · poly(dG-me5dC) in the Z-form. Both the general appearance of the fibres and measurements of helical parameters are in good agreement with models derived from X-ray diffraction6–4.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, University of Minnesota, 1479 Gortner Avenue, St Paul, Minnesota, 55108, USA

    Patricia G. Arscott & Victor A. Bloomfield

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, and Interfacial Sciences Center, Shepherd Laboratory, University of Minnesota, 100 Union Street S.E., Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55455, USA

    Gil Lee & D. Fennell Evans

Authors
  1. Patricia G. Arscott
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  2. Gil Lee
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  3. Victor A. Bloomfield
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  4. D. Fennell Evans
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Arscott, P., Lee, G., Bloomfield, V. et al. Scanning tunnelling microscopy of Z-DNA. Nature 339, 484–486 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/339484a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/339484a0

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