CArG box is a highly conservative DNA motif found in Serum Response Element (SRE), which regulates expression of c-fos gene. In this thesis, short oligodeoxynucleotides containing CArG box were measured using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to evaluate their ability to preferentially form hairpin over duplex. 1H spectra were measured at temperature range (274-360) K. We acquired thermodynamic parameters of the transition between hairpin and single strand by fitting the temperature- dependent chemical shifts. The hairpin structure of our oligonucleotide samples was confirmed by non- B-DNA patterns in NOESY spectra, absence of concentration dependence of melting, and other pieces of evidence. Thus, occurrence of unusual DNA conformation of CArG box in native DNA, potentially even cruciform is highly possible. This could explain the high affinity between SRE and its transcription factor. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Serum response factor (SRF) is a transcription factor which binds to a highly conserved DNA sequence called the CArG box. According to the nucleotide sequence of CArG box it could form a hairpin structure or a cruciform. In this master thesis, the structure of the CArG box in a human gene c-fos was studied by nuclear magnetic resonance. 1 H spectra at temperatures 274{356 K, two-dimensional 1 H{1 H NOESY spectra, and two-dimensional 1 H{13 C HMBC spectra for DNA sequences with lengths of 12, 14 and 16 nucleoti- des were acquired. The thermodynamic parameters of formation of the secondary structure in the samples were determined from the measured temperature depen- dencies. The hairpin formation in the samples was con rmed based on the NOESY spectra and the lack of dependency of the melting temperature on concentration. The observed difference of the secondary structure from B-DNA could serve as a possible explanation of the high a nity of SRF to CArG box. 1