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Science 23 November 1973:
Vol. 182. no. 4114, pp. 833 - 834
DOI: 10.1126/science.182.4114.833
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Articles

Conformation of N6-Methyladenine, a Base Involved in DNA Modification: Restriction Processes

Helene Sternglanz 1 and Charles E. Bugg 1

1 Institute of Dental Research and Department of Biochemistry, University of Alabama in Birmingham, University Station, Birmingham 35294

Crystal structures of N6,N9-dimethyladenine and N6-methyladenine hydrochloride were determined from three-dimensional x-ray diffraction data. The bases assume a conformation in which the N(6)-methyl group blocks one of the hydrogen-bonding sites normally used by adenine to form Watson-Crick pairs with thymine in double-helical DNA. When in this conformation, N6-methyladenine residues might alter the secondary structure of DNA. thereby preventing the scission of modified DNA's by restriction enzymes.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Structure and Dynamics of Hemimethylated GATC Sites: IMPLICATIONS FOR DNA-SeqA RECOGNITION.
S.-H. Bae, H.-K. Cheong, C. Cheong, S. Kang, D. S. Hwang, and B.-S. Choi (2003)
J. Biol. Chem. 278, 45987-45993
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)