Abstract
A better understanding of the effects that oxidative lesions have on RNA is of importance to understand their role in the development/progression of disease. 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine was incorporated into RNA to understand its structural and functional impact on RNA:RNA and RNA:DNA duplexes, hairpins and pseudoknots. One to three modifications were incorporated into dodecamers of RNA [AAGA GGG AUGAC] resulting in thermal destabilization (Δ T m - 10°C per lesion). Hairpins with tetraloops c-UUCG*-g* ( ), a-ACCG-g* ( ), c-UUG*G*-g* ( ) and c-ACG*G*-g* ( ) were modified and used to determine thermal stabilities, concluding that: (i) modifying the stem leads to destabilization unless adenosine is the opposing basepair of 8-oxoGua; (ii) modification at the loop is position- and sequence-dependent and varies from slight stabilization to large destabilization, in some cases leading to formation of other secondary structures (hairpin→duplex). Functional effects were established using the aptamer for preQ 1 as model. Modification at G5 disrupted the stem P1 and inhibited recognition of the target molecule 7-methylamino-7-deazaguanine (preQ 1 ). Modifying G11 results in increased thermal stability, albeit with a K d 4-fold larger than its canonical analog. These studies show the capability of 8-oxoG to affect structure and function of RNA, resulting in distinct outcomes as a function of number and position of the lesion.