2026-05-20T10:41:32Zhttps://keep.lib.asu.edu/oai/request

oai:keep.lib.asu.edu:node-2006222025-04-21T15:43:11Zoai_pmh:repo_items

200622 https://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.2.N.200622 http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0 2025-05 2026-04-21T05:00:00 22 pages Holman, Olivia Liu, Di Stephanopoulos, Nicholas Chiu, Po-Lin Barrett, The Honors College Department of Psychology School of Molecular Sciences Z-DNA is a left-handed form of DNA with several known biological functions, including roles in immune responses. The discovery of Z-DNA binding proteins suggests additional, yet unexplored, functions. However, Z-DNA remains understudied, partly due to the challenges of inducing its formation, which typically requires high salt concentrations and specific pyrimidine-purine repeat sequences. In this study, we explored chemical modifications to facilitate the B-to-Z transition under lower salt conditions. We found that incorporating methoxyribose or ribose sugars alongside deoxyribose in GC-rich sequences significantly lowered the salt concentration required for the B-Z transition. Building on this result, we designed and synthesized four DNA nanostructures incorporating Z-DNA, including a Z-DNA/RNA hybrid. These structures will serve as probes to investigate the physiological roles of Z-DNA. Future work will focus on optimizing these designs and initiating biological studies. Z-DNA DNA Nanostructure Biological Probes Biochemistry Integration of Z-DNA into Novel Nanostructure Designs