The Effects of Vitamins on DNA and RNA Structures and Dynamics

The important role of vitamins is well known with regard to human health and disease. In this book, we review the effects of vitamins, A, B and C on the structure and dynamics of DNA and RNA. The conjugations of vitamin A (retinol and retinoic acid), vitamin B (folic acid) and vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid) by DNA and tRNA were analyzed. The loading efficacies of these vitamins with DNA and RNA were compared in solution. Vitamins bind nucleic acids via hydrophilic, hydrophobic and H-bonding contacts with vitamin C forming more stable DNA and tRNA adducts. The loading efficacies of these vitamins were from 40% to 60%. Vitamins induce major DNA and RNA structural changes, while biopolymers remain in native conformations.