| Abstract
| - Dynamic interchange between DNA conformations, including metastable states, can be ofimportance to biological function. In this study, we use a combination of spectroscopic and calorimetrictechniques to detect and characterize kinetically trapped, metastable states in strand exchange and stranddisplacement reactions for bulge loop DNA conformations, here referred to as Ω-DNAs. We show thatsuch metastable, Ω-DNA bulge loop states can stably coexist below 50 °C, while rearranging irreversiblyat elevated temperatures to thermodynamically more stable states. Such dynamic interchange betweenmetastable and globally stable DNA conformational states can be of importance in biological regulatorymechanisms.
|
