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Interaction of spermine and DNA
Author(s) -
Hirschman Shalom Z.,
Leng Marc,
Felsenfeld Gary
Publication year - 1967
Publication title -
biopolymers
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.556
H-Index - 125
eISSN - 1097-0282
pISSN - 0006-3525
DOI - 10.1002/bip.1967.360050209
Subject(s) - spermine , chemistry , dna , base pair , composition (language) , base (topology) , titration , biophysics , biochemistry , inorganic chemistry , enzyme , biology , mathematical analysis , linguistics , philosophy , mathematics
Abstract The effect of spermine upon the denaturation temperature ( T m ) of DNA's of various base compositions has been found to depend upon both the base composition of the DNA and the pH of the solution. Measurement of the hydrogen ion titration curve of spermine as a function of temperature reveals that the net charge of the spermine molecule is undergoing a rapid change with temperature in the range of temperatures at which DNA denatures. Since the value of T m depends upon base composition, the correlation of the effect of spermine upon T m with the base composition of the DNA used may be explainable in terms of the changing degree of ionization of spermine. The binding of spermine to native DNA has also been studied by dialysis equilibrium. There is no significant variation either in the number of strongly binding sites or strength of binding with base composition. It is concluded that there is no evidence of correlation between the binding of spermine and the base composition of DNA.