Hydrolysis of DNA and RNA

Franklin, S.J. (2001) Lanthanide-mediated DNA hydrolysis. Current Opinion in Chemical Biology, 5,201-208. Komiyama, M., Takeda, N., and Shigekawa, H. (1999) Hydrolysis of DNA and RNA by lanthanide ions mechanistic studies leading to new applications. Chemical Communications, 1443-1451. 

M. Komiyama, N. Takeda, H. Shigekawa, Hydrolysis of DNA and RNA by Lanthanide Ions Mechanistic Studies Leading to New Applications , Chem. Commun., 1443(1999)... 

Non-enzymatic hydrolysis of DNA and RNA has been attracting interest, mainly beeause it is essential for further developments in biotechnology, molecular biology, therapy, and rel-... 

Remarkable catalytic activities of lanthanide ions for the hydrolysis of DNA and RNA... 

As described in the introduction section, one of the goals of non-enzymatic hydrolysis of DNA and RNA is to prepare artificial enzymes for site-selective scission of them. With these new tools, we can develop novel biotechnology and therapy, which are impossible with the use of naturally occurring enzymes. Now that we have lanthanide ions as efficient molecrrlar scissors on DNA and RNA, what we should do next for the site-selective scission is to let these scissors work at the desired site in DNA and RNA substrates. 

A full kinetic study of the hydrolysis of c-AMP (248) catalysed by Cu(II) terpyridine (Cutrpy) has revealed that the active species under alkaline conditions is the hydroxide form of the catalyst, (CutrpyOH)+. Although the same species acts as a base catalyst in the transesterification of RNA, here it behaves as a nucleophilic catalyst. Mechanistic studies of the hydrolysis of DNA and RNA by lanthanide ions have revealed that the catalytically active species are dinuclear hydroxo clusters. For example, the mechanism of the Ce(IV) catalysis of DNA hydrolysis (acceleration factor of lO -fold) is considered to involve the facilitated formation of a pentacoordinated intermediate (Scheme 45). However, the Ln(III) catalysis of RNA... 

The covalent backbone of DNA and RNA is subject to slow, nonenzymatic hydrolysis of the phosphodiester bonds. In the test tube, RNA is hydrolyzed rapidly under alkaline conditions, but DNA is not the 2 -hydroxyl groups in RNA (absent in DNA) are directly involved in the process. Cyclic 2, 3 -monophosphate nucleotides are the first products of the action of alkali on RNA and are rapidly hydrolyzed further to yield a mixture of 2 -and 3 -nucleoside monophosphates (Fig. 8-8). 

Some chemical fragments of DNA and RNA can also be found in meteorites (Tables 5.1 and 5.2). For example, some meteorites have been reported to contain small amounts of adenine, one of the nucleobases found in RNA and DNA. The current view is that the Murchison meteorite contained adenine, guanine, their hydrolysis products hypoxanthine and xanthine, and uracil. The reported concentration of all those substances, however, is low, about 1.3 ppm. The Murchison and other meteorites may also contain ribitol and ribonic acid, the reduced and oxidized forms of ribose, respectively, but ribose itself has not been found.6... 

DNA molecules are very large, much larger than proteins. RNA is more comparable to proteins in size. Complete hydrolysis of DNA (or RNA) by acid cleaves it into a mixture of nitrogenous bases, 2-deoxy-D-ribose (or D-ribose for RNA), and orthophosphate. There are two general types of nitrogenous bases in both DNA and RNA, pyrimidines and purines. 

Staphylococcal nuclease (SNase) is a single-peptide chain enzyme consisting of 149 amino acid residues. It catalyzes the hydrolysis of both DNA and RNA at the 5 position of the phosphodiester bond, yielding a free 5 -hydroxyl group and a 3 -phosphate monoester... 

Zn Alkaline phosphatase hydrolysis of phosphate esters Peptidases hormone control DNA and RNA polymerases nucleic acid replication and polymerization... 

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