Mercury~Ⅱ-Mediated Formation of Thymine-Hg~Ⅱ-Thymine Base Pairs in DNA Duplexes

摘要

The interactions of metal ions with nucleic acids, nucleosides, and nucleobases have been investigated extensively. Owing to the high toxicity of mercury, its behavior in cells has been of prime interest, and DNA—mercury interactions have been recognized as involving the denaturing of DNA duplex structures. In this report, contrary to existing studies, we describe the stabilization oY DNA duplexes via the formation of a Hg~Ⅱ-mediated base pair, thymine— Hg~Ⅱ-thymine (T-Hg~Ⅱ-T).