Interplay between Metal Ions and Nucleic Acids

Abstract

Interplay between Metal Ions and Nucleic AcidsThe preceding Volume 9, Structural and Catalytic Roles of Metal Ions in RNA , wasto a large part devoted to ribozymes, a vibrant but well defi ned research area. Thepresent volume, though related to the previous one, is of a much wider characterby describing phenomena that are generally due to the interrelations between metalions and nucleic acids, especially DNA. Yet it should be noted that the role of metalion-nucleic acid interactions in medication, tumor diagnosis, and anticancerresearch is not specifi cally considered because these topics were dealt with inVolumes 41 and 42 of our series Metal Ions in Biological Systems . Instead, Volume10 focuses in 12 chapters on modern developments encompassing the wide rangefrom G-quadruplexes via DNAzymes to peptide nucleic acids (PNAs), topics ofrelevance, e.g., for chemistry and nanotechnology, but also for molecular biologyand genetic diagnostics.The volume opens with two general chapters. The fi rst one provides an overviewon metal ion-nucleic acid interactions and their characterization in solution bydescribing the identifi cation of metal ion binding sites with chemical and biochemicalmethods, the application of NMR, etc. It deals with the determination of bindingconstants and the effects of anions and buffers on metal ion binding to nucleic acids.The corresponding interactions as seen in the solid state by crystal structure analysisare the topic of Chapter 2. Though the interactions of metal ions with nucleic acidsand their constituents have attracted much attention over more than fi ve decades, thereview focuses mainly on results obtained during the past 15 years leading to tableswith over 200 entries. This large body of information is classifi ed and discussed.