A-Z-RNA conformational changes effected by high pressure

Abstract

This paper reports evidence obtained by circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy measurements indicating that two oligoribonucleotide duplexes with the alternating purine-pyrimidine sequences r(GC)6 or r(AU)6 change their A-RNA conformation under high pressure. Under the high-pressure conditions at which B-Z-DNA transition easily occurs, RNA acquires a conformation which only differs slightly from that of A-RNA. However, exposure of r(GC)6 or r(AU)6 to high pressure (6 kbar) in the presence of 5 M NaCl causes a conformation change of both oligoribonucleotide duplexes from their A- to their Z-RNA form. The departure of RNA or DNA duplexes from their original conformations under high pressure depends on the water structure itself and involves displacing an active (structural) water molecule outside the nucleic acid molecules. Experiments carried out until now in many laboratories have shown that B-Z or A-Z transitions of DNA or RNA, respectively, do not depend on the conditions applied, but the common mechanism for these processes seems to be dehydration. This same effect can be observed either at high salt concentrations or in the presence of an alcohol or at high pressure. Our results also support the view that the higher stability of RNA compared with DNA duplexes is due to the strong interaction of the 2'-hydroxyl groups of RNA with water molecules.