Disodium guanosine 5'-monophosphate self-associates into nanoscale cylinders at pH 8: a combined diffusion NMR spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering study.

We report a combined NMR and dynamic light scattering (DLS) study on the size of supramolecular structures formed by disodium guanosine 5'-monophosphate, Na(2)(5'-GMP), at pH 8. In general, two distinct types of aggregate species are present in an aqueous solution of Na(2)(5'-GMP). One type consists of stacking 5'-GMP monomers, and the other contains stacking G-quartets. Both types of aggregates can be modeled as rodlike cylinders. The cylinder diameter is 10 and 26 A for monomer aggregates and quartet aggregates, respectively. For Na(2)(5'-GMP) concentrations between 18 and 34 wt %, the cylinders formed by stacking G-quartets have an average length between 8 and 30 nm, corresponding to a stack of approximately 24-87 G-quartets. These nanoscale aggregates are significantly larger than what had previously been believed for Na(2)(5'-GMP) self-association at pH 8. The length of both types of 5'-GMP aggregates was found to increase with Na(2)(5'-GMP) concentration but was insensitive to the added NaCl in solution. While the aggregate size for monomer aggregates increases with a decrease in temperature, the size of G-quartet aggregates is essentially independent of temperature. We found that the size of G-quartet aggregates is slightly larger in D(2)O than in H(2)O, whereas the size of monomer aggregates remains the same in D(2)O and in H(2)O. We observed a linear relationship between the axial ratio of the 5'-GMP cylinders and the Na(2)(5'-GMP) concentration for both types of 5'-GMP aggregates, which suggests a common stacking mechanism for monomers and G-quartets.