Interaction between Heavy Water and Single-Strand DNA: A SERS Study

Abstract

The structure and function of biological macromolecules change due to intermolecular deuterium bond formation or deuterium substitution with environmental D2O. In this study, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) was used to detect interaction sites between D2O and ssDNA and their action mechanisms. SERS peaks of ssDNA changed with increasing D2O proportions, and the site of action mainly involved A and G bases, whose number strengthened the interaction between sequences and D2O and hence the SERS peak intensities. Fixing the number of A and G bases prevented changes in their positions from significantly altering the map. We also identified the interaction between ssDNA sequences that easily formed a G-quadruplex structure and D2O. The amplitude of the SERS peak intensity change reflected the ssDNA structural stability and number of active sites. These findings are highly significant for exploring genetic exchanges and mutations and could be used to determine the stability and structural changes of biological macromolecules.

Is Deuterium Fractionation a Major Controlling Factor in Human Metabolism and Cancer? An Essential Role for Proline

“…The two strands of DNA are held together by hydrogen bonds between the two bases on opposite strands. Deuterium, being heavier, binds more strongly in covalent bonds, weakening its bond strength in ionic bonds [1,7]. Human stem cells grown in vitro on deuterium-enriched medium show a reduction in population doubling time, reflecting a slowing down of the cell cycle [8].…”

Influence of Single Deuterium Replacement on Frequency of Hydrogen Bond Dissociation in IFNA17 under the Highest Critical Energy Range

“…The participation of deuterium atoms in the formation of hydrogen bonds in the DNA molecule can cause a change in the time of transmission of genetic information, thus, even a slight change in the isotopic state of the medium can affect changes in metabolic processes in living systems [ 15 , 16 , 17 ]. It is known that non-radioactive isotopes of biogenic elements ( 2 H/ 1 H, 13 C/ 12 C, 15 N/ 14 N, 18 O/ 17 O/ 16 O) have a significant effect on the rate of biochemical reactions, physiological processes, growth, and development of unicellular and multicellular living organisms with different levels of organization of energy metabolism and metabolic rate [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ].…”