Base-stacking interactions
From an energetic point of view, the most important
contribution to the DNA helix is the stacking of the bases
on top of each other. The ‘stacking energy’ is a measure of
how much energy is required to destack or melt a region of
double-stranded DNA. Table 1 lists the stacking energies
for all 16 different dinucleotide combinations. There is a
strong sequence dependence on the amount of stabilizing
energy from base stacking. As a general trend, alternating
pyrimidine–purine steps have less energy, and in particular
T.A steps have the lowest ( 2 3.82 kcal mol 2 1
). G.C steps
have the largest value ( 2 15 kcal mol 2 1
), and require the
most energy to melt.
The propeller twist is a measure of the angle between the
planes of the two bases, as shown in Figure 3b. Each base is
planar, but when two bases pair, they do not always line up
perfectly flat with each other; this angle is called propeller
twist because the bases are twisted away from each other
like an aeroplane propeller. This measure is related to the
rigidity of the helix, such that a larger propeller twist angle
reflects a more rigid helix. In B-DNA, the propeller twist
angles are usually quite low, as can be seen from the side
view of the helix in Figure 1b.
Another important dinucleotide parameter related to
base-stacking interactions is the twist angle of the two
bases, as shown in Figure 3b. Table 1 includes the values for
twist angles for B-DNA in solution. Note that these range
from 27.98 (which would correlate to a helix with 12.9 bp
per turn) to 408 (corresponding to 9 bp per turn). Thus the
pitch of the helix (that is, the length of a full turn of the
helix) can range considerably, based on the sequence. This
has important biological consequences. If there are two
protein-binding sites, each facing the same side of the helix,
separated by about 21 bp, or roughly two turns of the helix,
it is possible to have different intervening sequences,
resulting in quite different orientations of the two sites
(ranging over about 458 of orientation relative to each
other).