Cytosine ribose flexibility in DNA: a combined NMR (13)C spin relaxation and molecular dynamics simulation study

Using (13)C spin relaxation NMR in combination with molecular dynamic (MD) simulations, we characterized internal motions within double-stranded DNA on the pico- to nano-second time scale. We found that the C–H vectors in all cytosine ribose moieties within the Dickerson–Drew dodecamer (5′-CGCGAATTCGCG-3′) are subject to high amplitude motions, while the other nucleotides are essentially rigid. MD simulations showed that repuckering is a likely motional model for the cytosine ribose moiety. Repuckering occurs with a time constant of around 100 ps. Knowledge of DNA dynamics will contribute to our understanding of the recognition specificity of DNA-binding proteins such as cytosine methyltransferase.