An Approach to DNA crystallization using the thermal reversible process of DNA duplexes

Chatake, Toshiyuki*; Sazaki, Gen*; Kikko, Tatsuhiko*; Fujiwara, Satoru; Ishikawa, Takuya*; Matsumoto, Osamu*; Morimoto, Yukio*

Crystal Growth & Design, 10(3), p.1090 - 1095, 2010/03

https://doi.org/10.1021/cg9007075

We propose a technique for DNA crystallization using the thermal reversible process of DNA: a conversion between a double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) and two single-stranded DNAs (ssDNAs) with temperatures. We investigated the solubility of the crystals of a DNA hexamer d(CGCGCG) and their melting temperature, at which the thermal conversion occurs. The results obtained suggest that the conversion from a dsDNA to ssDNAs results in an increase in solubility. It was shown that using this temperature-controlled technique, high-grade single crystals of the DNA hexamer could be obtained from a small amount of DNA samples. This easy-to-apply technique would be superior to the conventional vapor diffusion technique in that it allows the solubility of DNA crystals to be controlled with no need for expensive setups.