Relative stability of parallel- and antiparallel-stranded duplex DNA.

We have recently shown that DNA containing homopolymeric A-T base pairs can form a parallel-stranded intramolecular duplex [van de Sande et al. (1988) Science (Washington, D.C.) 241, 551-557]. In the present paper, we demonstrate that parallel-stranded DNA can also be formed in unconstrained bimolecular DNA of appropriate sequence homology. Three deoxyoligonucleotides, a 21-mer [dCCCATATATATTTTTTTTCCC], a ps-15-mer [dTATATATAAAAAAAA], and an aps-15-mer [dAAAAAAAATATATAT], have been synthesized. Annealing of 21-mer and aps-15-mer results in the formation of a conventional antiparallel duplex (aps); however, the combination of 21-mer and ps-15-mer forms a duplex in which the two strands are in a parallel orientation (ps). The parallel-stranded structure was established from the following criteria: (i) The parallel-stranded structure shows a 1:1 stoichiometry of the constituent strands. (ii) Gel electrophoretic mobility of the ps and aps duplexes are similar under native conditions. (iii) Spectroscopic properties of the ps duplex are characteristics for a base-paired structure but are different from the aps structure. (iv) Both duplexes undergo a thermally induced helix to coil transition; however, the melting temperature for the ps duplex is 22 degrees C lower. (v) The minor groove binding drug Hoechst 33258 shows a reduced affinity for the ps compared to the aps duplex. (vi) The parallel-stranded duplex is not a substrate for DNA Escherichia coli polymerase I (Klenow fragment) or AMV reverse transcriptase. Parallel-stranded DNA can exist under normal solution conditions, but competition experiments show it to be thermodynamically less favorable than the conventional antiparallel form.