NMR Study of the p-DNA Duplex [(4→?2')-3'-Desoxyribopyranosyl-(ᵐ⁵CGDDTTᵐ⁵CG)₂] and Comparison with its p-RNA Analogue

Abstract

The determination of the solution structure of small non-natural oligopeptides and oligonucleotides by NMR, which is one of the main research topics of our group, is illustrated on the example of an 8-mer p-DNA duplex. p-DNA, the 3'-desoxy analogue of p-RNA, forms an highly selective pairing system but its pairing strength is less than that of analogous p-RNA sequences. The NMR study reveals that the backbone of p-DNA corresponds more closely to the conformation predicted for pentapyranose nucleic acids by qualitative conformational analysis than p-RNA.