Formation of specific or non-specific complexes between deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or ribonucleic acid (RNA) and proteins, mediated and stabilised by a network of non-covalent interactions.
Note: Nucleic acid–protein interactions are critical for basic cellular functions such as replication, transcription, translation,
recombination, DNA repair
etc. as well as for fine regulation of them. Proteins may bind more tightly to specific sequences in the nucleic acid or non-specifically, in which case their
affinity is independent of sequence.
Source:
PAC, 2018, 90, 1121. 'Terminology of bioanalytical methods (IUPAC Recommendations 2018)' on page 1185 (https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2016-1120)