The Paperclip Triplex: Understanding the Role of Apex Residues in Tight Turns

In this study, we investigate the role of the apex nucleotides of the two turns found in the intramolecular “paperclip” type triplex DNA formed by 5′-TCTCTCCTCTCTAGAGAG-3′. Our previously published structure calculations show that residues C7-A18 form a hairpin turn via Watson-Crick basepairing and residues T1-C6 bind into the major groove of the hairpin via Hoogsteen basepairing resulting in a broad turn of the T1-T12 5′-pyrimidine section of the DNA. We find that only the C6C7/G18 apex triad (and not the T12A13/T1 apex triad) is required for intramolecular triplex formation, is base independent, and occurs whether the purine section is located at the 5′ or 3′ end of the sequence. NMR spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations are used to investigate a bimolecular complex (which retains only the C6C7/G18 apex) in which a pyrimidine strand 5′- TCTCTCCTCTCT-3′ makes a broad fold stabilized by the purine strand 5′-AGAGAG-3′ via Watson Crick pairing to the T8-T12 and Hoogsteen basepairing to T1-T5 of the pyrimidine strand. Interestingly, this investigation shows that this 5′-AGAGAG-3′ oligo acts as a new kind of triplex forming oligonucleotide, and adds to the growing number of triplex forming oligonucleotides that may prove useful as therapeutic agents.