In addition to traditional Watson-Crick base pairing between nucleic acids to form doubled-stranded helices, Hoogsteen base-pairing of a third strand to from a triple helix is possible. This is typically achieved using two strands of polypyrimidine and one strand of polypurine. Researchers speculate that appropriate sequences complementary to a gene could potentially form triple helical complexes that effectively downregulate expression. This study examines the effects of spermine, a polyvalent cation, on the relative binding strength of the helices formed in a system containing 2 equivalents of polydeoxythymidylic acid and 1 equivalent of polyadenylic acid. To assess relative stabilities, temperature versus UV absorbance melting curves were generated. In order to determine what type of complex formed, if any, mixing curves were also generated.

Effects of variable concentrations of spermine on the stability of polyA, 2 polydT nucleic acid complexes

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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