What is it about?
The helical structure of DNA is explained as being due to the interaction between the pi-stacked base-pair dimers rather than due to the ribose-phospate backbone or the surrounding liquid phase. For that purpose, the interaction energy contributions between two Watson-Crick base pairs are determined with symmetry adapted perturbation theory (SAPT).
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Why is it important?
This explains the structure of DNA which is of pivotal importance for life science.
Perspectives
An important result is the central role of pi-interactions and in particular of the repulsive interactions which are of key importance for the helical form of DNA. Attractive interactions, in particular dispersion and electrostatics, are also significant but turn out to change only rather smoothly as a function of the arrangement of the pi systems.
Prof. Dr. Reinhold Friedrich Fink
University of Tübingen
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Quantum Effects Explain the Twist Angle in the Helical Structure of DNA, ChemPhysChem, September 2024, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1002/cphc.202400372.
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