Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Encyclopedia of Biophysics pp 1–4Cite as

DNA-Ligand Circular Dichroism

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:

  • 62 Accesses

Synonyms

DNA; Induced circular dichroism; Ligand–ligand interactions

Definition

Deoxyribonucleic acid, DNA, is composed of nucleotides which are planar aromatic bases linked to a sugar and a phosphate. Ligands that bind to DNA are usually cationic with their binding further stabilized by adopting a binding site that ensures complementarity of DNA and ligand shapes. For example, planar aromatic molecules often intercalate between base pairs, and bulky proteins adopt a position in the major groove. As long as the binding mode has an element of specificity about it, then one expects to see a change in the CD signal of the component DNA and ligand signals. This is particularly obvious when the ligand is achiral, so it has no intrinsic CD before binding to the DNA. The CD signals induced upon ligand binding to DNA (or any other chiral molecule) are characteristic of the interaction and may be interpreted to give data such as binding constants.

Basic Characteristics

DNA–Ligand Interactions

Th...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

References

  • Garbett NC, Ragazzon PA, Chaires JB (2007) Circular dichroism to determine binding mode and affinity of ligand-DNA interactions. Nat Protoc 2:3166–3172

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hiort C, Nordén B, Rodger A (1990) Enantioselective DNA binding of [Ru(1,10- phenanthroline)3]2+ studied with linear dichroism. J Am Chem Soc 112:1971–1982

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ismail MA, Sanders KJ, Fennel GC, Latham HC, Wormell P, Rodger A (1998) Spectroscopic studies of 9-hydroxyellipticine binding to DNA. Biopolymers 46:127–143

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kubista M, Åkerman B, Nordén B (1988) Induced circular dichroism in nonintercalative DNA-drug complexes. Sector rules for structural applications. J Phys Chem 92:2352–2356

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lyng R, Rodger A, Nordén B (1992a) The circular dichroism of drug-DNA systems. 1. Poly(dG-dC) 2 B-DNA. Biopolymers 31:1709–1719

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lyng R, Rodger A, Nordén B (1992b) The circular dichroism of drug-DNA systems. 2. Poly(dA-dT) 2 B-DNA. Biopolymers 32:1201–1214

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McDonnell U, Hicks MR, Hannon MJ, Rodger A (2008) DNA binding and bending by dinuclear complexes comprising ruthenium polypyridyl centres linked by a bis(pyridylimine) ligand. J Inorg Biochem 102:2052–2059

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nordén B, Tjerneld F (1982) Structure of methylene blue DNA complexes studied by linear and circular dichroism spectroscopy. Biopolymers 21:1713–1734

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nordén B, Wirth M, Ygge B, Buchardt O, Nielsen P (1986) Interactions between DNA and psoraleneamines studied with dichroism techniques. Photochem Photobiol 44:587–594

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nordén B, Rodger A, Dafforn TR (2010) Linear dichroism and circular dichroism: a textbook on polarized spectroscopy. Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Palumbo M, Capasso L, Palù G, Marciani MS (1984) DNA-binding of water soluble furocoumarins: a thermodynamic and conformational approach to understanding different biological effects. Nucleic Acids Res 12:8567–8578

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Rodger A, Blagbrough IS, Adlam GA, Carpenter ML (1994) DNA binding of a spermine derivative: spectroscopic study of anthracene-9-carbonyl-N1-spermine with poly(dG-dC) 2 and poly(dA-dT) 2. Biopolymers 34:1583–1593

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rodger A, Taylor S, Adlam G, Blagbrough IS, Haworth IS (1995) Multiple DNA binding modes of anthracene-9-carbonyl-N1-spermine. Bioorg Med Chem 3:861–872

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schipper PE, Rodger A (1983) Symmetry rules for the determination of the intercalation geometry of host/guest systems using circular dichroism: a symmetry adapted coupled-oscillator model. J Am Chem Soc 105:4541–4550

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schipper PE, Nordén B, Tjerneld F (1980) Determination of binding geometry of DNA-adduct systems through induced circular dichroism. Chem Phys Lett 70:17–21

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Alison Rodger

Authors
  1. Alison Rodger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alison Rodger .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University Leicester MRC Centre, Leicester, United Kingdom

    Gordon Roberts

  2. Dept Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

    Anthony Watts

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Molecular Sciences, Macquarie University, NWS, Australia

    Alison Rodger

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 European Biophysical Societies' Association (EBSA)

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Rodger, A. (2018). DNA-Ligand Circular Dichroism. In: Roberts, G., Watts, A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Biophysics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35943-9_636-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35943-9_636-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-35943-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-35943-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation