Cytosine bisulfite

Figure 1.45 Reaction of bisulfite with cytosine bases is an important route of derivatization. It can lead to uracil formation or, in the presence of an amine (or hydrazide) containing compound, transamination can occur, resulting in covalent modification.

As in the case of pyrimidine bases discussed previously, adenine and guanine are subject to nucleophilic displacement reactions at particular sites on their ring structures (Figure 1.50). Both compounds are reactive with nucleophiles at C-2, C-6, and C-8, with C-8 being the most common target for modification. However, the purines are much less reactive to nucleophiles than the pyrimidines. Hydrazine, hydroxylamine, and bisulfite—all important reactive species with cytosine, thymine, and uracil—are almost unreactive with guanine and adenine. 

DNA and RNA may be modified with hydrazide-reactive probes by reacting their cytosine residues with bisulfite to form reactive sulfone intermediates. These derivatives undergo transamination to couple hydrazide- or amine-containing probes (Draper and Gold, 1980) (Chapter 27, Section 2.1). 

The hydrazide derivative of AMCA can be used to modify aldehyde- or ketone-containing molecules, including cytosine residues using the bisulfite activation procedure described in Chapter 27, Section 2.1. AMCA-hydrazide reacts with these target groups to form hydrazone bonds (Figure 9.26). Carbohydrates and glycoconjugates can be labeled specifically at their polysaccharide portion if the required aldehydes are first formed by periodate oxidation or another such method (Chapter 1, Section 4.4). 

Figure 27.2 Treatment of cytosine bases with bisulfite results in a multi-step deamination reaction, ultimately leading to uracil formation.

Figure 27.3 The reaction of cytosine with bisulfite in the presence of an excess of an amine nucleophile (such as a diamine compound) leads to transamination at the N-4 position. This process is a route to adding an amine functional group to cytosine residues in oligonucleotides.

Since the site of modification on cytosine bases is at a hydrogen bonding position in double helix formation, the degree of bisulfite derivatization should be carefully controlled. Reaction conditions such as pH, diamine concentration, and incubation time and temperature affect the yield and type of products formed during the transamination process. At low concentrations of diamine, deamination and uracil formation dramatically exceed transamination. At high concentrations of diamine (3M), transamination can approach 100 percent yield (Draper and Gold, 1980). Ideally, only about 30-40 bases should be modified per 1,000 bases to assure hybridization ability after derivatization. 

Bisulfite modification of cytosine residues also can be used to add permanently a sulfone group to the C-6 position. In this scheme, the sulfone functions as a hapten recognizable by specific anti-sulfone antibodies. At high concentrations of bisulfite and in the presence of methyl-hydroxylamine, cytosines are transformed into N4-methoxy-5,6-dihydrocytosine-6-sulphonate derivatives (Herzberg, 1984 Nur et al., 1989). Labeled antibodies can then be used to detect the hybridization of such probes. 

Prepare bisulfite modification solution consisting of 3 M concentration of a diamine (i.e., ethylenediamine), 1M sodium bisulfite, pH 6. The use of the dihydrochloride form of the diamine avoids having to adjust the pH down from the severe alkaline pH of the free-base form. Note The optimum pH for transaminating biotin-hydrazide to cytosine residues using bisulfite is 4.5 (see Section 2.3, this chapter). 

Biotin-Hydrazide Modification of Bisulfite-Activated Cytosine Groups... 

Figure 27.13 Biotin-hydrazide may be incorporated into cytosine bases using a bisulfite-catalyzed transamination reaction.

Shapiro, R., and Weisgras, J.M. (1970) Bisulfite-catalyzed transamination of cytosine and cytidine. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 40, 839-843. 

II. Reaction of cytosine and uracil with sodium bisulfite. J. Biol. Chem. 248, 4060-4064. 

Adducts 119 are of relevance as reaction intermediates in the chemistry of several uracil and cytosine derivatives, which show a strong tendency to undergo covalent nucleophilic addition across the 5,6 double bond with such reagents as water, alcohols, hydroxylamine, and bisulfite ion. 

The 5,6-double bond in uracil, 5-fluorouracil, /V-alkyluracils, thiouracils, and uridines adds sodium sulfite or bisulfite to give the corresponding 5,6-dihydro-6-sulfonic acid salts. Bisulfite addition to cytosines and cytidine may be succeeded by a second reaction involving nucleophilic replacement of the amino group, for example, by water. 

Addition of a nucleophile to the C-6 position of cytosine often results in fascile displacement reactions occurring at the N4 location. With hydroxylamine attack, nucleophilic displacement causes the formation of an N4-hydroxy derivative. A particularly important reaction for bioconjugate chemistry, however, is that of nucleophilic bisulfite addition to the C-6 position. Sulfonation of cytosine can lead to two distinct reaction products. At acid pH wherein the N-3 nitrogen is protonated, bisulfite reaction results in the 6-sulfonate product followed by spontaneous hydrolysis. Raising the pH to alkaline conditions causes effective formation of uracil. If bisulfite addition is done in the presence of a nucleophile, such as a primary amine or hydrazide compound, then transamination at the N4 position can take place instead of hydrolysis (Fig. 38). This is an important mechanism for adding spacer arm functionalities and other small molecules to cytosine-containing oligonucleotides (see Chapter 17, Section 2.1). 

Fluorescein-5-thiosemicarbazide is a hydrazide derivative of fluorescein that can spontaneously react with aldehyde- or ketone-containing molecules to form a covalent, hydrazone linkage (Fig. 208) (Pierce). It also can be used to label cytosine residues in DNA or RNA by use of the bisulfite activation procedure (Chapter 17, Section 2.1). The resulting fluorescent derivative exhibits an excitation maximum at a wavelength of 492 nm and a maximal emission wavelength of 519 nm when dissolved in buffer at pH 8.6. In the same buffered environment, the compound has an extinction coefficient of approximately 78,000 M-1cm 1 at 492 nm. 

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