Methylation at the N1 site of adenine leads to the formation of cytotoxic 1-methyladenine (m1A). Since the N1 site of adenine is involved in the hydrogen bonding of T.A and A.T Watson-Crick base pairs, it is expected that the pairing interactions will be disrupted upon 1-methylation. In this study, high-resolution NMR investigations were performed to determine the effect of m1A on double-helical DNA structures. Interestingly, instead of disrupting hydrogen bonding, we found that 1-methylation altered the T.A Watson-Crick base pair to T(anti).m1A(syn) Hoogsteen base pair, providing insights into the observed differences in AlkB-repair efficiency between dsDNA and ssDNA.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Yang et al. (2008) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: