Abstract
While there is evidence that strand separation in DNA is an important control event for both transcription and replication (1,2) there is no specific model that would provide a satisfactory mechanistic account as to how localized helical destabilization might be initiated by a protein and be restricted to a specific DNA sequence under the highly stabilizing conditions found in vivo (3). An hypothetical model for sequence-specific destabilization can be formulated quite naturally on the basis of proton exchange mechanisms in DNA to be described in this report. This model provides for the exclusive destabilization of G-C rich sequences under the influence of polycationic sequences of proteins. Superficially, these features are contradictory to the well known stability of G-C regions and the ionic stabilization of DNA by polycations. In addition, the model contains the apparently self-contradictory notion that an increase in H-bond strength will establish the condition of destabilization. Therefore, justification of such a model will be based on close examination of a rational basis for its formulation and second on a comparison of its predictive features with several general observations on DNA melting reported in the literature.
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McConnell, B. (1978). A Model for the Specific Site Melting of DNA in Vivo . In: Pullman, B. (eds) Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Molecular Biology. The Jerusalem Symposia on Quantum Chemistry and Biochemistry, vol 11. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-9882-7_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-9882-7_12
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