Molecules (Jan 2024)

On Water Arrangements in Right- and Left-Handed DNA Structures

  • Liliya A. Yatsunyk,
  • Stephen Neidle

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29020505
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 29, no. 2
p. 505

Abstract

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DNA requires hydration to maintain its structural integrity. Crystallographic analyses have enabled patterns of water arrangements to be visualized. We survey these water motifs in this review, focusing on left- and right-handed duplex and quadruplex DNAs, together with the i-motif. Common patterns of linear spines of water organization in grooves have been identified and are widely prevalent in right-handed duplexes and quadruplexes. By contrast, a left-handed quadruplex has a distinctive wheel of hydration populating the almost completely circular single groove in this structure.

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