DNA structures under molecular crowding conditions with a phosphorylcholine derivative (MPC)

抄録

The molecular environment of a living cell is totally different from that of a typical test tube solution; about 30% of the volume of the cell interior is occupied by large biomolecules, small metabolites, and osmolytes, leading to molecular crowding conditions. In particular, there are large amounts of zwitterionic molecules that act as osmolytes, and amino acids. Here, we studied the thermodynamics of the canonical DNA duplex and non-canonical DNA G-quadruplex structures under molecular crowding conditions using a phosphorylcholine derivative, 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC), as a model compound of a naturally occurring zwitterionic molecule. It was found that MPC stabilized the DNA G-quadruplex structure, whereas it destabilized the DNA duplex.