{"id":{"repo_id":"brockport","oai_identifier":"oai:soar.suny.edu:20.500.12648/6907"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/brockport/oai:soar.suny.edu:20.500.12648/6907","repository":{"repo_id":"brockport","name":"College at Brockport","base_url":"https://soar.suny.edu/oai/request/"},"display":{"title":"The Influence of the Cellular Environment on Z-DNA Formation","abstract":"In the cell, chemically diverse solutes known as osmolytes accumulate in response to environmental stresses. To add to the understanding of how the environment inside a cell affects nucleic acid folding and function, we investigated the influence of cosolutes on the transition from B-DNA to Z-DNA in model DNA duplexes. Distinct from the familiar right-handed BDNA helical conformation, Z-DNA is a left-handed double helical structure with its phosphodiester backbone arranged in a zig-zag pattern that is unique to Z-DNA. Moreover, due to the correlation between Z-DNA formation potential and regions of active transcription, ZDNA is believed to serve a vital role in the transcription process. Previous literature has shown that divalent metal ions such as Ca2+ and Mg2+ can promote the formation of Z-DNA in vitro and previous studies from our lab have shown that the presence of osmolytes enhances the formation of Z-DNA, significantly decreasing the in vitro [Na+] required for the transition. In our latest experiments, we examined the combination of divalent ions and osmolytes and its influence on the B-Z transition. We utilized circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy to monitor the B-Z transition in a divalent ion background in the presence and absence of a model osmolyte, PEG 200. Our results thus far suggest that PEG 200 greatly enhances the formation of Z-DNA in the presence of Mg2+ as compared with Na+ alone and significantly decreases the [Mg2+] required for folding in vitro. Our results with Ca2+ thus far suggest that its folding of Z-DNA is similarly enhanced by PEG 200 and that the effect of metal ions on Z-DNA formation can be observed in vivo.","abstract_html":"In the cell, chemically diverse solutes known as osmolytes accumulate in response to environmental stresses. To add to the understanding of how the environment inside a cell affects nucleic acid folding and function, we investigated the influence of cosolutes on the transition from B-DNA to Z-DNA in model DNA duplexes. Distinct from the familiar right-handed BDNA helical conformation, Z-DNA is a left-handed double helical structure with its phosphodiester backbone arranged in a zig-zag pattern that is unique to Z-DNA. Moreover, due to the correlation between Z-DNA formation potential and regions of active transcription, ZDNA is believed to serve a vital role in the transcription process. Previous literature has shown that divalent metal ions such as Ca2+ and Mg2+ can promote the formation of Z-DNA in vitro and previous studies from our lab have shown that the presence of osmolytes enhances the formation of Z-DNA, significantly decreasing the in vitro [Na+] required for the transition. In our latest experiments, we examined the combination of divalent ions and osmolytes and its influence on the B-Z transition. We utilized circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy to monitor the B-Z transition in a divalent ion background in the presence and absence of a model osmolyte, PEG 200. Our results thus far suggest that PEG 200 greatly enhances the formation of Z-DNA in the presence of Mg2+ as compared with Na+ alone and significantly decreases the [Mg2+] required for folding in vitro. Our results with Ca2+ thus far suggest that its folding of Z-DNA is similarly enhanced by PEG 200 and that the effect of metal ions on Z-DNA formation can be observed in vivo.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hange, Amanda"],"institution":null,"degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Blose, Joshua"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-09-10","date_published":"2020-09-10","updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:02:59Z","subjects":[],"languages":["en_US"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12648/6907","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Blose, Joshua"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hange, Amanda"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2021-09-08T14:17:13Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2021-09-08T14:17:13Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2020-09-10"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["thesis"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en_US"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12648/6907"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["In the cell, chemically diverse solutes known as osmolytes accumulate in response to environmental stresses. To add to the understanding of how the environment inside a cell affects nucleic acid folding and function, we investigated the influence of cosolutes on the transition from B-DNA to Z-DNA in model DNA duplexes. Distinct from the familiar right-handed BDNA helical conformation, Z-DNA is a left-handed double helical structure with its phosphodiester backbone arranged in a zig-zag pattern that is unique to Z-DNA. Moreover, due to the correlation between Z-DNA formation potential and regions of active transcription, ZDNA is believed to serve a vital role in the transcription process. Previous literature has shown that divalent metal ions such as Ca2+ and Mg2+ can promote the formation of Z-DNA in vitro and previous studies from our lab have shown that the presence of osmolytes enhances the formation of Z-DNA, significantly decreasing the in vitro [Na+] required for the transition. In our latest experiments, we examined the combination of divalent ions and osmolytes and its influence on the B-Z transition. We utilized circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy to monitor the B-Z transition in a divalent ion background in the presence and absence of a model osmolyte, PEG 200. Our results thus far suggest that PEG 200 greatly enhances the formation of Z-DNA in the presence of Mg2+ as compared with Na+ alone and significantly decreases the [Mg2+] required for folding in vitro. Our results with Ca2+ thus far suggest that its folding of Z-DNA is similarly enhanced by PEG 200 and that the effect of metal ions on Z-DNA formation can be observed in vivo."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Influence of the Cellular Environment on Z-DNA Formation"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Blose, Joshua"],"dc:creator":["Hange, Amanda"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2021-09-08T14:17:13Z"],"dc:date.available":["2021-09-08T14:17:13Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2020-09-10"],"dc:description.abstract":["In the cell, chemically diverse solutes known as osmolytes accumulate in response to environmental stresses. To add to the understanding of how the environment inside a cell affects nucleic acid folding and function, we investigated the influence of cosolutes on the transition from B-DNA to Z-DNA in model DNA duplexes. Distinct from the familiar right-handed BDNA helical conformation, Z-DNA is a left-handed double helical structure with its phosphodiester backbone arranged in a zig-zag pattern that is unique to Z-DNA. Moreover, due to the correlation between Z-DNA formation potential and regions of active transcription, ZDNA is believed to serve a vital role in the transcription process. Previous literature has shown that divalent metal ions such as Ca2+ and Mg2+ can promote the formation of Z-DNA in vitro and previous studies from our lab have shown that the presence of osmolytes enhances the formation of Z-DNA, significantly decreasing the in vitro [Na+] required for the transition. In our latest experiments, we examined the combination of divalent ions and osmolytes and its influence on the B-Z transition. We utilized circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy to monitor the B-Z transition in a divalent ion background in the presence and absence of a model osmolyte, PEG 200. Our results thus far suggest that PEG 200 greatly enhances the formation of Z-DNA in the presence of Mg2+ as compared with Na+ alone and significantly decreases the [Mg2+] required for folding in vitro. Our results with Ca2+ thus far suggest that its folding of Z-DNA is similarly enhanced by PEG 200 and that the effect of metal ions on Z-DNA formation can be observed in vivo."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12648/6907"],"dc:language.iso":["en_US"],"dc:title":["The Influence of the Cellular Environment on Z-DNA Formation"],"dc:type":["thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:02:59Z"}