Single- and double-stranded Zp

From early on, 3DNA calculates the Zp parameter to separate A- and B-DNA double helical steps. First introduced in the paper A-form conformational motifs in ligand-bound DNA structures (see figure below), Zp is the mean projection of the two phosphorus atoms onto the z-axis of the dimer ‘middle frame’. Zp is greater than 1.5 Å for A-DNA, and it is less than 0.5 Å for B-DNA. As noted in the 3DNA NAR paper, other parameters such as slide should also be examined to confirm conformational assignments based on Zp.

definition of the Zp parameter for duplex DNA

As of v2.1, 3DNA has introduced the single-stranded variant for the Zp parameter (ssZp) as a more robust substitute for the Richardson phosphorus-glycosidic bond distance parameter (Dp) to characterize sugar puckers. See post Sugar pucker correlates with phosphorus-base distance for more details. In 3DNA/DSSR, ssZp is defined as the z-coordinate of the 3′ phosphorus atom expressed in the standard reference frame of the preceding base; it is positive when phosphorus lies on the +z-axis side (base in anti conformation) and negative if phosphorus is on the –z-axis side (base in syn conformation). Note that by definition, Dp should always be positive.

As in the previous post, here I am using G175 and U176 of PDB entry 1jj2 (the large ribosomal subunit of Haloarcula marismortui) as examples to illustrate how the ssZp parameters are calculated. The GpU forms a dinucleotide platform, where the sugar of G175 adopts a C2′-endo conformation, and that of U176 C3′-endo. For verification, here is the PDB data file for fragment 1jj2-G175-U176-A177.pdb (note A177 is included for its phosphorus atom). Run the following 3DNA commands:

find_pair -s 1jj2-G175-U176-A177.pdb stdout
frame_mol -1 ref_frames.dat 1jj2-G175-U176-A177.pdb ref-G175.pdb
frame_mol -2 ref_frames.dat 1jj2-G175-U176-A177.pdb ref-U176.pdb

File ref-G175.pdb contains the following line:

ATOM     24  P     U 0 176      -5.624   6.937   1.918  1.00 24.19           P 

The z-coordinate of U176 (which is 3′ to G175) is 1.918, which is the ssZp for G175. It is less than 2.9 Å, corresponding to the C2′-endo sugar conformation of G175.

Similarly, file ref-U176.pdb contains the following line:

ATOM     44  P     A 0 177      -3.841   6.592   4.377  1.00 25.91           P

So the ssZp for U176 is 4.377, which is greater than 2.9 Å, corresponding to the C3′-endo sugar conformation of U176.

To sum up, the double-stranded Zp as originally available from 3DNA can be used for discriminating A- and B-DNA double-helical steps: Zp > 1.5 Å for A-DNA, and Zp < 0.5 Å for B-DNA. The newly introduced single-stranded Zp is intended for characterizing sugar puckers: Zp > 2.9 Å for C3′-endo, and Zp < 2.9 Å for C2′-endo. Since A-DNA has predominately C3′-endo sugar conformation and B-DNA has C2′-endo sugar, the ssZp parameter would be helpful in classifying a dinucleotide into A- or B-like conformation. A survey of ssZp in well-defined A- and B-DNA structures (as performed for double-stranded Zp) should prove useful.

Realizing the naming confusions of double-stranded Zp vs single-stranded Zp, I am considering to rename single-stranded Zp as ssZp in future releases of 3DNA and DSSR. Do you have any comments or suggestions? Please let me know by leaving a comment!

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