%0 Journal Article %@ 1521-3773 %A Tseng, W-H %A Chang, C-K %A Wu, P-C %A Hu, N-J %A Lee, G-H %A Tzeng, C-C %A Neidle, S %A Hou, M-H %D 2017 %F discovery:10096361 %I WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH %J Angewandte Chemie International Edition %K DNA deformation, induced-fit recognition, neurological disease, trinucleotide repeats, X-ray crystallography %N 30 %P 8761-8765 %T Induced-Fit Recognition of CCG Trinucleotide Repeats by a Nickel-Chromomycin Complex Resulting in Large-Scale DNA Deformation %U https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10096361/ %V 56 %X Small‐molecule compounds targeting trinucleotide repeats in DNA have considerable potential as therapeutic or diagnostic agents against many neurological diseases. Ni^{II}(Chro)_{2} (Chro=chromomycin A3) binds specifically to the minor groove of (CCG)_{n} repeats in duplex DNA, with unique fluorescence features that may serve as a probe for disease detection. Crystallographic studies revealed that the specificity originates from the large‐scale spatial rearrangement of the DNA structure, including extrusion of consecutive bases and backbone distortions, with a sharp bending of the duplex accompanied by conformational changes in the Ni^{II} chelate itself. The DNA deformation of CCG repeats upon binding forms a GGCC tetranucleotide tract, which is recognized by Ni^{II}(Chro)_{2}. The extruded cytosine and last guanine nucleotides form water‐mediated hydrogen bonds, which aid in ligand recognition. The recognition can be accounted for by the classic induced‐fit paradigm. %Z This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions.