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A comparison of the interactions of proflavine with DNA and with deoxyribonucleohistone using circular dichroism spectroscopy
Author(s) -
Dalgleish D. G.,
Dingsøyr E.,
Peacocke A. R.
Publication year - 1973
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.1973.360120219
Subject(s) - proflavine , chemistry , dna , circular dichroism , nucleoprotein , molecule , base pair , crystallography , spectroscopy , nucleic acid , ultraviolet visible spectroscopy , biophysics , stereochemistry , biochemistry , physics , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics , biology
Complexes of proflavine with DNA and deoxyribonucleohistone from calf thymus show different optical activity in the visible and the ultraviolet. Although the visible CD spectra of both complexes arise from interactions of dye molecules, the variation in the optical activity with the amount of dye bound suggests that a lesser conformational mobility exists in DNH. This is confirmed by the ultraviolet CD spectra of the complexes, and it is suggested that the conformation of DNA within nucleohistone is altered by separation of the base pairs by a greater extent than occurs in DNA in free solution. Even if the protein is unequally distributed along the DNA, the conformation of all of the DNA is altered by its incorporation into the nucleoprotein complex, since no evidence could be detected to show that DNA in a “free” conformation existed.