Department of Biomolecular NMR

Dr. Witold Andrałojć

Head of Department

wandralojc@ibch.poznan.pl
ext. 1286

Research activity

Research area

The research conducted in the Department focuses on understanding the structure, function and dynamics of biomolecules, particularly nucleic acids. In our studies we apply nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) supported by an array of complementary biophysical and biochemical techniques, such as CD and UV spectroscopies or electrophoretic methods. Current topics of our interest include

Spatial structures of functional DNA molecules, such as DNAzymes and aptamers
DNA and RNA G-quadruplexes and duplex-quadruplex structural hybrids
Development of paramagnetic NMR methods for nucleic acids
The influence of chemically modified nucleotide units on DNA and RNA structure.
Interactions between nucleic acids and small molecule ligands.

Keywords

NMR spectroscopy
structure and dynamics of nucleic acids
DNAzymes
DNA aptamers
G-quadruplexes
duplex-quadruplex structural hybrids
nucleic acid ligands
paramagnetic NMR
modified oligonucleotides
conformation of modified nucleosides

Research Projects

NMR structural studies of 8-17 and I-R2 DNAzymes, SONATA 14, 2018/31/D/ST4/01467, 2019-2024, PI: dr Witold Andrałojć
Exploring the sequence-structure relationship as a starting point for the design of DNA G-quadruplexes with a given topology -- an integrative approach combining molecular simulations with experimental methods; OPUS 18; 2019/35/B/ST4/03559; 2020-2026, Leader institution – Gdańsk University of Technology; PI at ICHB PAN: prof. dr hab. Zofia Gdaniec
Lanthanide binding oligonucleotides (LBOs) as paramagnetic tags for NMR spectroscopy of nucleic acids, OPUS 19, 2020/37/B/ST4/03182, 2021-2026, PI: dr Witold Andrałojć
Anti-cancer strategy based on the induced G-quadruplex formation. Structural and biological properties of ligand-RNA/mRNA complexes., SONATA 16, 2020/39/D/ST4/03177, 2021-2025, PI: dr Dorota Gudanis-Sobocińska
Synthesis and structural/biophysical studies of model mRNA/mt-tRNA oligomers to evaluate the role of modified nucleosides (m5C, hm5C, f5C, ca5C, m1G) in translation and human diseases, OPUS22, 2021/43/B/ST4/01570, 2022-2026, Leader – Łódź University of Technology, PI at ICHB PAN: dr Witold Andrałojć

Selected publications

DNAzymes and aptamers
J. Wieruszewska, A. Pawłowicz, E. Połomska, K. Pasternak, Z. Gdaniec, W. Andrałojć, The 8-17 DNAzyme can operate in a single active structure regardless of metal ion cofactor, Nat. Commun., 2024, 15, 4218

W. Andrałojć, J. Wieruszewska , K. Pasternak, Z. Gdaniec, Solution Structure of a Lanthanide-binding DNA Aptamer Determined Using High Quality pseudocontact shift restraints, Chem. Eur. J., 2022, e202202114
G-quadruplexes and duplex-quadruplex hybrids
W. Andrałojć, K. Pasternak, J. Sarzynska, K. Zielinska, R. Kierzek, Z. Gdaniec, The origin of the high stability of 3′-terminal uridine tetrads: contributions of hydrogen bonding, stacking interactions, and steric factors evaluated using modified oligonucleotide analogs, RNA 2020, 26, 2000-2016

D. Gudanis, K. Zielińska, D. Baranowski, R. Kierzek, P. Kozłowski, Z. Gdaniec, Impact of a Single Nucleotide Change or Non-Nucleoside Modifications in G-Rich Region on the Quadruplex-Duplex Hybrid Formation, Biomolecules. 2021, 11, 1236

D. Gudanis, D. Kaniowski, K. Kulik, D. Baranowski, Z. Gdaniec, B.Nawrot, Formation of an RNA Quadruplex-Duplex Hybrid in Living Cells between mRNA of the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) and a G-Rich Antisense Oligoribonucleotide, Cells, 2020, 9, 2375

C. Roxo, K. Zielińska, A. Pasternak, Bispecific G-quadruplexes as inhibitors of cancer cells growth, Biochimie, 2023, 214, 91-100
Paramagnetic NMR
W. Andrałojć, J. Wieruszewska , K. Pasternak, Z. Gdaniec, Solution Structure of a Lanthanide-binding DNA Aptamer Determined Using High Quality pseudocontact shift restraints, Chem. Eur. J., 2022, e202202114
Chemically modified nucleotide units
I. Yildirim, W. Andrałojć, A. Taghavi, D. Baranowski, Z. Gdaniec, R Kierzek, E Kierzek, Experimental and computational investigations of RNA duplexes containing N7-regioisomers of adenosine and LNA-adenosine, Nucleic Acids Res., 2025, 53, gkae1222

D. Baranowski, J. Boryski, T. Ostrowski, 7-(β-d-Ribofuranosyl)-3-methylguanine: Synthesis from guanine and comparative multinuclear NMR studies, J. Mol. Struct.,2022, 1250 (3), 131911

D. Baranowski, A. Mieczkowski, D. Trzybiński, K. Woźniak, K. Bednarska-Szczepaniak, Z. Gdaniec, Z. J. Leśnikowski, Insights into molecular structure of adenosine-boron cluster conjugates and theirs phenyl isosters as adenosine receptor ligands: Nuclear magnetic resonance, crystallographic and computational studies, J. Mol. Struct., 2023, 1274 (1), 134588
Small molecules interacting with DNA/RNA
T. Laskowski, W. Andrałojć, J. Grynda, P. Gwarda, J. Mazerski, Z. Gdaniec, A strong preference for the TA/TA dinucleotide step discovered for an acridine-based, potent antitumor dsDNA intercalator, C-1305: NMR-driven structural and sequence-specificity studies, Sci. Rep, 2020, 10, 11697
Other
J. M. González-Delgado, P. M Thompson, W. Andrałojć, Z. Gdaniec, R. A. Ghiladi, S. Franzen, Comparison of the Backbone Dynamics of Dehaloperoxidase-Hemoglobin Isoenzymes, J. Phys. Chem. B, 2024, 128 (14), 3383-3397

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Department of Biomolecular NMR

Researchers:

PhD Students:

Research activity

Research area

Keywords

Research Projects

Selected publications

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Department of Biomolecular NMR

Researchers:

PhD Students:

Research activity

Research area

Keywords

Main types of DNA and RNA systems studied in the Department

An overview of experimental techniques used in our work

NMR Department and Laboratory Team

Research Projects

Selected publications

Adres

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