5-Methylation of Cytosine in CG:CG Base-Pair Steps: A Physicochemical Mechanism for the Epigenetic Control of DNA Nanomechanics

Van der Waals density functional theory is integrated with analysis of a non-redundant set of protein-DNA crystal structures from the Nucleic Acid Database to study the stacking energetics of CG:CG base-pair steps, specifically the role of cytosine 5-methylation. Principal component analysis of the steps reveals the dominant collective motions to correspond to a tensile ``opening'' mode and two shear ``sliding'' and ``tearing'' modes in the orthogonal plane. The stacking interactions of the methyl groups are observed to globally inhibit CG:CG step overtwisting while simultaneously softening the modes locally via potential energy modulations that create metastable states. The results have implications for the epigenetic control of DNA mechanics.