DNAMET · Efficient NMR crystallography of nucleic acid systems

The goal of this proposal is to develop efficient strategies for the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) crystallography of organic molecular solids, focussing on nucleic acids and their derivatives. These systems are natural targets for the developing field of crystallography via NMR since H-bonding and tautomerism are central to their biological activity. The structure and function of RNA and DNA depends strongly on associated metal ions and with water molecules, but the non-covalent and dynamic nature of these interactions creates severe problems for their characterisation in the solution state, while characterising the role of water and hydrogen bonding in the solid state via X-ray diffraction techniques is also difficult. As well as providing a variety of challenges for NMR, such as paramagnetic metal ions, these studies will provide direct information on local structure and dynamics in these key biological materials that is inaccessible to conventional crystallography.""