Article

Structural, Dynamical, and Electronic Transport Properties of Modified DNA Duplexes Containing Size-Expanded Nucleobases

Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Orgánica y Bioquímica, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Avda. Almansa 14, Albacete, 02006, Spain
Departament de Fisicoquímica and Institut de Biomedicina (IBUB), Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona, Avgda. Diagonal 643, Barcelona, 08028, Spain
Centre d’Investigació en Nanociència i Nanotecnologia-CIN2 (CSIC-ICN), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain
Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences and Computer Science and Mathematics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 37831-6494, USA
Molecular Modeling and Bioinformatics Unit, Institut de Recerca Biomèdica, Barcelona Scientific Park, Josep Samitier 1-6, 08028 barcelona, Spain; Department of Life Sciences, Barcelona Supercomputing Centre, Jordi Girona 29, 08034 barcelona, Spain; Departament de Bioquímica, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Avgda Diagonal 647, Barcelona 08028, Spain
J. Phys. Chem. A, 2011, 115 (41), pp 11344–11354
DOI: 10.1021/jp205122c
Publication Date (Web): September 2, 2011
Copyright © 2011 American Chemical Society
E-mail: F.J.L., fjluque@ub.edu; P.O., pablo.ordejon@cin2.es.
This article is part of the Pavel Hobza Festschrift special issue.

Abstract

Abstract Image

Among the distinct strategies proposed to expand the genetic alphabet, size-expanded nucleobases are promising for the development of modified DNA duplexes with improved biotechnological properties. In particular, duplexes built up by replacing canonical bases with the corresponding benzo-fused counterparts could be valuable as molecular nanowires. In this context, this study reports the results of classical molecular dynamics simulations carried out to examine the structural and dynamical features of size-expanded DNAs, including both hybrid duplexes containing mixed pairs of natural and benzo-fused bases (xDNA) and pure size-expanded (xxDNA) duplexes. Furthermore, the electronic structure of both natural and size-expanded duplexes is examined by means of density functional computations. The results confirm that the structural and flexibility properties of the canonical DNA are globally little affected by the presence of benzo-fused bases. The most relevant differences are found in the enhanced size of the grooves, and the reduction in the twist. However, the analysis also reveals subtle structural effects related to the nature and sequence of benzo-fused bases in the duplex. On the other hand, electronic structure calculations performed for xxDNAs confirm the reduction in the HOMO–LUMO gap predicted from the analysis of the natural bases and their size-expanded counterparts, which suggests that pure size-expanded DNAs can be good conductors. A more complex situation is found for xDNAs, where fluctuations in the electrostatic interaction between base pairs exerts a decisive influence on the modulation of the energy gap.

Time evolution of rmsd profiles, distribution of backbone angles, average values of backbone dihedrals, force field parameters, partial charges, structural variance for the first normal modes, dipoles of mixed base pairs, and energy of frontier orbitals for canonical and modified bases. This material is available free of charge via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org.

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Received 31 May 2011
Published online 2 September 2011
Published in print 20 October 2011
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