Purine binding to dinucleotides: Evidence for base stacking and insertion

Abstract

In an effort to understand the factors which may contribute to the stabilization of nucleic acids as well as the basic mechanism of the recognition process involved in the enzymatic replication of nucleic acids in vitro, we have embarked upon a systematic study of the interaction of biological bases and nucleosides with simple oligonucleotides by proton magnetic resonance. We wish to report here results which we have obtained on the interaction of purine with the following 3' --> 5'-dinucleotides: TpT, TpdU, and dUpT (T = thymidine, dU = 2'-deoxyuridine).