Nucleic Acid-Metal Ion Interactions

Natural biochemical processes are routinely being discovered in living cells that involve RNA. Some of these processes, such as RNA interference, are now being exploited for biotechnology and medicinal applications. DNA has also proven in recent years to be more than a passive storehouse of information. For example, non-B-form DNA structures formed by G-rich DNA have been shown to participate in the regulation of gene expression, a discovery that presents new possibilities for drug targets in the genome. The current quest to understand how nucleic acid functions at the most fundamental level requires that we have a detailed understanding of nucleic acid-metal ion interactions. Because RNA and DNA are polyanions the structure and biological function of these biopolymers depends strongly on their association with metal ions. While this intimate connection between metal ions and nucleic function has been appreciated for decades, the noncovalent and dynamic nature of these interactions has continually presented challenges to the development of accurate and quantitative descriptions. Over the past few years the development of solution state spectroscopic techniques and the achievement of high resolution X-ray crystal structures have provided tremendous insights into the nature of nucleic acid-metal ion interactions, including direct evidence for their importance in determining nucleic acid structure, from the dictation of folding pathways followed by large RNA molecules to the subtle modulation of DNA groove widths. This new book provides a comprehensive review of the experimental studies that define our current understanding of nucleic acid-metal ion interactions with a particular emphasis being placed on experimental biophysical studies. However, the book is not merely a current review of the literature, as original material and fresh perspectives on published results are also presented. Particularly noteworthy topics include: -The chapter by Williams and fellow workers which reviews information provided by x-ray crystal structures and discusses what this information has revealed about the unique nature of Mg2+ interactions with RNA phosphate groups. The authors provide fresh insights, based upon structural comparisons, for how these interactions govern the local folding pathways of RNA. By dedicating separate chapters to the participation of metal ions in the kinetics and thermodynamics of RNA folding, this volume provides a more in depth treatise of both areas than is typically possible for reviews in which these two...read more...