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Diaminoalkanes with an odd number of carbon atoms induce compaction of a single double‐stranded DNA chain
Author(s) -
Yoshikawa Yuko,
Yoshikawa Kenichi
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/0014-5793(95)00190-k
Subject(s) - methylene , dna , molecule , chemistry , crystallography , fluorescence , stereochemistry , biochemistry , medicinal chemistry , organic chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics
We have performed direct observations on the conformational change of a single double‐stranded T4 DNA molecule induced by diaminoalkanes, NH 3 + (CH 2 ) n NH 3 + ( n = 1 ∼ 6), by use of fluorescence microscopy. It was found that diamines with three and five methylene groups show a significant effect on the compaction of individual single DNA molecules. On the other hand, diamines with two, four and six methylene groups are not effective in the compaction of DNA. Such a drastic difference in the action of diamines suggests that not only the number of charge but also the length between the amino groups in the diamines plays an essential role in their interactions with DNA.