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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.

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

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