1 research outputs found
X‑ray Scattering from Immunostimulatory Tetrapod-Shaped DNA in Aqueous Solution To Explore Its Biological Activity–Conformation Relationship
We carried out synchrotron X-ray
scattering experiments from four
DNA supermolecules designed to form tetrapod shapes; these supermolecules
had different sequences but identical numbers of total base pairs,
and each contained an immunostimulatory CpG motif. We confirmed that
the supermolecules did indeed form the expected tetrapod shape. The
sample that had the largest radius of gyration (<i>R</i><sub>g</sub>) induced the most cytokine secretion from cultured immune
cells. Structural analysis in combination with a rigid tetrapod model
and an atomic scale DNA model revealed that the larger <i>R</i><sub>g</sub> can be ascribed to dissociation of the DNA double strands
in the central connecting portion of the DNA tetrapod. This finding
suggests that the biological activity is related to the ease with
which single DNA strands can be formed