---
OA_place: publisher
OA_type: hybrid
_id: '21078'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: The ease with which racemic mixtures crystallize compared with the equivalent
    chiral systems is routinely taken advantage of to produce crystals of small molecules.
    However, biological macromolecules such as DNA and proteins are naturally chiral,
    and thus the limited range of chiral space groups available hampers the crystallization
    of such molecules. Inspiring work over the past 15 years has shown that racemic
    mixtures of proteins, which were made possible by impressive advances in protein
    chemical synthesis, can indeed improve the success rate of protein crystallization
    experiments. More recently, the racemic crystallization approach was extended
    to include nucleic acids as a possible aid in the determination of enantiopure
    DNA crystal structures. Here, findings are reported that suggest that the benefits
    may extend beyond this. Two racemic crystal structures of the DNA sequence d(CCCGGG)
    are described which were found to fold into A-form DNA. This form differs from
    the Z-form DNA conformation adopted by the chiral equivalent in the solid state,
    suggesting that the use of racemates may also favour the emergence of new conformations.
    Importantly, the racemic mixture forms interactions in the solid state that differ
    from the chiral equivalent (including the formation of racemic pseudo-helices),
    suggesting that the use of racemic DNA mixtures could provide new possibilities
    for the design of precise self-assembled nanomaterials and nanostructures.
article_processing_charge: No
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Pradeep K
  full_name: Mandal, Pradeep K
  id: 6a3def15-d4b4-11ef-9fa9-a24c1f545ec3
  last_name: Mandal
  orcid: 0000-0001-5996-956X
- first_name: Gavin W.
  full_name: Collie, Gavin W.
  last_name: Collie
- first_name: Brice
  full_name: Kauffmann, Brice
  last_name: Kauffmann
- first_name: Ivan
  full_name: Huc, Ivan
  last_name: Huc
citation:
  ama: Mandal PK, Collie GW, Kauffmann B, Huc I. Racemic crystal structures of A-DNA
    duplexes. <i>Acta Crystallographica Section D Structural Biology</i>. 2022;78(6):709-715.
    doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1107/s2059798322003928">10.1107/s2059798322003928</a>
  apa: Mandal, P. K., Collie, G. W., Kauffmann, B., &#38; Huc, I. (2022). Racemic
    crystal structures of A-DNA duplexes. <i>Acta Crystallographica Section D Structural
    Biology</i>. International Union of Crystallography. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1107/s2059798322003928">https://doi.org/10.1107/s2059798322003928</a>
  chicago: Mandal, Pradeep K, Gavin W. Collie, Brice Kauffmann, and Ivan Huc. “Racemic
    Crystal Structures of A-DNA Duplexes.” <i>Acta Crystallographica Section D Structural
    Biology</i>. International Union of Crystallography, 2022. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1107/s2059798322003928">https://doi.org/10.1107/s2059798322003928</a>.
  ieee: P. K. Mandal, G. W. Collie, B. Kauffmann, and I. Huc, “Racemic crystal structures
    of A-DNA duplexes,” <i>Acta Crystallographica Section D Structural Biology</i>,
    vol. 78, no. 6. International Union of Crystallography, pp. 709–715, 2022.
  ista: Mandal PK, Collie GW, Kauffmann B, Huc I. 2022. Racemic crystal structures
    of A-DNA duplexes. Acta Crystallographica Section D Structural Biology. 78(6),
    709–715.
  mla: Mandal, Pradeep K., et al. “Racemic Crystal Structures of A-DNA Duplexes.”
    <i>Acta Crystallographica Section D Structural Biology</i>, vol. 78, no. 6, International
    Union of Crystallography, 2022, pp. 709–15, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1107/s2059798322003928">10.1107/s2059798322003928</a>.
  short: P.K. Mandal, G.W. Collie, B. Kauffmann, I. Huc, Acta Crystallographica Section
    D Structural Biology 78 (2022) 709–715.
date_created: 2026-01-29T14:59:50Z
date_published: 2022-06-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-02-24T07:08:58Z
day: '01'
ddc:
- '570'
doi: 10.1107/s2059798322003928
extern: '1'
external_id:
  pmid:
  - '35647918'
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: '        78'
issue: '6'
language:
- iso: eng
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
  url: https://doi.org/10.1107/S2059798322003928
month: '06'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
page: 709-715
pmid: 1
publication: Acta Crystallographica Section D Structural Biology
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 2059-7983
publication_status: published
publisher: International Union of Crystallography
quality_controlled: '1'
status: public
title: Racemic crystal structures of A-DNA duplexes
tmp:
  image: /images/cc_by.png
  legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
  name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
  short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 78
year: '2022'
...