pH-Induced conformational change and dimerization of DNA chains investigated by analytical ultracentrifugation.

pH-induced conformational change of i-motif DNA has been studied by analytical ultracentrifugation. As pH increases, the hydrodynamic radius of individual DNA chains in aqueous solutions prepared by being heat-treated suddenly increases while the molar mass is constant, indicating that the conformation changes from an i-motif to a random coil. When DNA concentrations are higher than 1.0 mu M, relatively stable dimers are formed as pH sharply decreases from 7.5 to 4.5. Moreover, the weight percentage of the dimers increases with the initial DNA concentration. The study can help to understand the functions of the telomeres containing repeated cytosine-rich sequences and to develop DNA-based devices.