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Yu. M. Yevdokimov¹, S. G. Skuridin¹, S. V. Semenov², V. I. Salyanov¹, E. I. Kats³

Author affiliations
¹Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology of the Russian Academy of Sciences,
32 Vavilova St., Moscow, 119991, Russia
E-mail: yevdokim@eimb.ru
²National Research Centre «Kurchatov Institute»,
1 Kurchatova Sq., Moscow, 123182, Russia
³Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences,
1-a Academician Semenov Ave., Chernogolovka, 142432, Moscow Region, Russia

Abstract
The CD spectra of double-stranded (ds) DNA dispersion particles with the “re-entrant” cholesteric structures formed in poly(ethyleneglycol)-containing solutions are compared. The high osmotic pressure of the solvent results in the dense packing DNA molecules and alteration of their secondary structure as well as a disorder of molecules in quasinematic layers of dispersion particles. Under these conditions, it is impossible to connect the adjacent ds DNA molecules by specific cross-links (nanobridges).

Keywords: double-stranded DNA, liquid-crystalline dispersions of DNA, circular dichroism spectra, quasinematic layers of DNA molecules, “re-entrant” cholesteric packing of DNA, intercalation of antracycline drugs, cross-linking of DNA molecules, disorder of quasinematic layers and of DNA secondary structure.