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The “rigid” nucleotide concept in perspective
Author(s) -
Sundaralingam M.,
Westhof E.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
international journal of quantum chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.484
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1097-461X
pISSN - 0020-7608
DOI - 10.1002/qua.560160709
Subject(s) - nucleic acid , polynucleotide , nucleotide , dna , nucleic acid structure , chemistry , biophysics , computational biology , crystallography , rna , biochemistry , biology , gene
The principles embodied in the “rigid” nucleotide concept contend that the highly correlated preferred conformations of 5′‐nucleotides lead to helical conformations as the most predominant secondary structure, while their distortions induce the loops, bends, and kinks of the tertiary structure of nucleic acids. These principles have been amply corroborated by the crystal structure of tRNA phe and throughout the studies of nucleic acid conformations by numerous other techniques, although the choice of the term “rigid” was at times misunderstood or considered confusing. The “rigid” nucleotide concept helps understand the polymorphism of polynucleotides, the folding of DNA in chromatin, and the interactions between metals or drugs with nucleic acids. It provides also a rationale for the dynamics and flexibility (unwinding, unfolding, unpairing, etc.) of nucleic acids during replication, transcription, and translation as well as related processes like denaturation, thermal‐or pH‐induced melting.