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Cruciform structures and functions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 March 2009

Youri Timsit  and
Dino Moras
Youri Timsit
Affiliation:
IGBMC, Pare d’ Innovation, I rue Laurent Fries, 67404 Illkirch, France.
Dino Moras
Affiliation:
IGBMC, Pare d’ Innovation, I rue Laurent Fries, 67404 Illkirch, France.
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Extract

In this paper, a structure-function analysis of B-DNA self-fitting is reviewed in the light of recent oligonucleotide crystal structures. Their crystal packings provided a high-resolution view of B-DNA helices closely and specifically fitted by groove-backbone interaction, a natural and biologically relevant manner to assemble B-DNA helices. In revealing that new properties of the DNA molecule emerge during condensation, these crystallographic studies have pointed to the biological importance of DNA—DNA interactions.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quarterly Reviews of Biophysics , Volume 29 , Issue 4 , December 1996 , pp. 279 - 307
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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