Specific induced circular dichroism and enhanced B to Z transitions of duplexes stabilized by chromophore-linked alkynylnucleoside residues

We have developed an induced circular dichroism (ICD) probe with a chromophore-linked alkynyldeoxyribose skeleton for analyzing higher-order structures of DNA duplexes in the visible-light region. When CG-repeated oligonucleotides (ODNs) with the probe at their 5' ends adopted Z-form duplexes at a high NaCl concentration, strong ICD signals were observed at the absorptive region of the chromophore. On the other hand, their B-form duplexes, formed at a low NaCl concentration, produced a faint ICD signal. The specific ICD for the Z-form duplexes was found to appear only when the chromophores were attached at the 5' ends of each of the ODNs. Furthermore, the chromophoric alkynylnucleoside residues effectively promoted the B to Z transition of the ODN.