Dynamics of water and ions around DNA: What is so special about them?

Water around biomolecules is special for behaving strangely – both in terms of structure and dynamics, while ions are found to control various interactions in biomolecules such as DNA, proteins and lipids. The questions that how water and ions around these biomolecules behave in terms of their structure and dynamics, and how they affect the biomolecular functions have triggered tremendous research activities worldwide. Such activities not only unfolded important static and dynamic properties of water and ions around these biomolecules, but also provoked heated debate regarding their explanation and role in biological functions. DNA, being negatively charged, interacts strongly with the surrounding dipolar water and positively charged counterions, leading to complex electrostatic coupling of water and ions with the DNA. Recent time-resolved fluorescence Stokes shift experiments and related computer simulation studies from our and other laboratories have unfolded some unique dynamic characteristics of water and ions near different structures of DNA. These results are discussed here to showcase the specialty of water and ion dynamics around DNA.