Contribution of phenylalanine side chain intercalation to the TATA-box binding protein-DNA interaction: molecular dynamics and dispersion-corrected density functional theory studies

Deformation of DNA takes place quite often due to binding of small molecules or proteins with DNA. Such deformation is significant due to minor groove binding and, besides electrostatic interactions, other non-covalent interactions may also play an important role in generating such deformation. TATA-box binding protein (TBP) binds to the minor groove of DNA at the TATA box sequence, producing a large-scale deformation in DNA and initiating transcription. In order to observe the interactions of protein residues with DNA in the minor groove that produce the deformation in the DNA structure, we carried out molecular dynamics simulations of the TBP-DNA system. The results reveal consistent partial intercalation of two Phe residues, distorting stacking interactions at two dinucleotide step sites. We carried out calculations based on dispersion-corrected density functional theory to understand the source of such stabilization. We observed favorable interaction energies between the Phe residues and the base pairs with which they interact. We suggest that salt-bridge interactions between the phosphate groups and Lys or Arg residues, along with the intercalation of Phe residues between two base pair stacks, stabilize the kinked and opened-up DNA conformation.