NMR investigation of DNA primer–template models: Structural insights into dislocation mutagenesis in DNA replication

Slipped frameshift intermediates can occur when DNA polymerase slows or stalls at sites of DNA lesions. However, this phenomenon is much less common when unmodified DNA is replicated. In order to study the effect of templating bases on the alignment of primer–templates, NMR structural investigation has been performed on primer–template oligonucleotide models which mimic the situation that dNTP has just been incorporated opposite template. NMR evidence reveals the occurrence of misalignment when dGTP is incorporated opposite template T with a downstream nucleotide C. Depending on the template sequence, further extension of the primer can lead to realignment.