[Energetics of hydration of nucleic acids with various nucleotide composition].

K M Virnik, A I Gasan, V Ia Maleev, A V Shestopalova

Index: Biofizika 47(3) , 420-6, (2002)

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Abstract

The energetics of hydration of natural DNA of different AT/GC content and model double-helical polyribonucleotides was studied. The results obtained by a new approach, which is based on calorimetric measurements of hydration-dehydration energy of nucleic acid-water systems at different relative humidities are presented. A correlation between the dehydration energy and the nucleotide composition of native DNA was found. The energetic characteristics of systems containing deoxynucleoside monophosphates and water clusters of different dimensions were obtained by the Monte Carlo method. The results of computer simulation correlate with the experimental calorimetric data.