Biophysical Journal 68: 1063-1072 (1995)
© 1995 the Biophysical Society

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Importance of coulombic end effects on cation accumulation near oligoelectrolyte B-DNA: a demonstration using 23Na NMR.

Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison 53706, USA.

ABSTRACT

The local cation concentration at the surface of oligomeric or polymeric B-DNA is expected, on the basis of MC simulations (Olmsted, M. C., C. F. Anderson, and M. T. Record, Jr. 1989. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 86:7766-7770), to decrease sharply as either end of the molecule is approached. In this paper we report 23Na NMR measurements indicating the importance of this "coulombic" end effect on the average extent of association of Na+ with oligomeric duplex DNA. In solutions containing either 20-bp synthetic DNA or 160-bp mononucleosomal calf thymus DNA at phosphate monomer concentrations [P] of 4-10 mM, measurements were made over the range of ratios 1 < or = [Na]/[LP] < or = 20, corresponding to Na+ concentrations of 4-200 nM. The longitudinal 23Na NMR relaxation rates measured in these NaDNA solutions, Robs, are interpreted as population-weighted averages of contributions from "bound" (RB) and "free" (RF) 23Na relaxation rates. The observed enhancements of Robs indicate that RB significantly exceeds RF, which is approximately equal to the 23Na relaxation rate in an aqueous solution containing only NaCl. Under salt-fre-tconditions ([Na]/[P] = 1), where the enhancement in Robs is maximal, we find that Robs--RF in the solution containing 160-bp DNA is approximately 1.8 times that observed for the 20-bp DNA. For the 160-bp oligomer (which theoretical calculations predict to be effectively polyion-like), we find that a plot of Robs v. [P]/[Na] is linear, as observed previously for sonicated (approximately 700 bp) DNA samples. For the 20-bp oligonucleotide this plot exhibits a marked departure from linearity that can be fitted to a quadratic function of [P]/[Na]. Monte Carlo simulations based on a simplified model are capable of reproducing the qualitative trends in the 23Na NMR measurements analyzed here. In particular, the dependences of Robs--RF on DNA charge magnitude of Z(320 vs. 38 phosphates) and (for the 20-bp oligomer) on [Na]/[P] are well correlated with the calculated average surface concentration of Na+. Thus, effects of sodium concentration on RB appear to be of secondary importance. We conclude that 23Na NMR relaxation measurements are a sensitive probe of the effects of oligomer charge on the extent of ion accumulation near B-DNA oligonucleotides, as a function of [Na] and [P].

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