Nucleic acids biological synthesis

The chemistry, metabolism, and clinical importance of folic acid have been the subject of many excellent reviews (A7, Gil, H14, H20, Rl). Folic acid deficiency leads to a macrocytic anemia and leucopenia. These symptoms are due to inadequate synthesis of nucleic acid. The synthesis of purine bases and of thymine, required for nucleic acid synthesis, is impaired in folic acid deficiency. Detection of folic acid activity in biologic fluids and tissues is of the utmost importance it distinguishes between the various anemias, e.g., those due to vitamin Bi2 or folic acid deficiency. Because morphology of the abnormal red cell does not help in diagnosing vitamin deficiency, one must rely on assay methods for differential diagnosis. Treatment of pernicious anemia with folic acid has led to subacute combined degeneration of the spinal cord despite... 

Zhang, L., Goldhammer, C., Henkel, B., et al. (1994) Peptides, proteins and nucleic acids. Biological and biomedical applications, in Innovation and Perspectives in Solid Phase Synthesis (Epton, R., ed.), Mayflower Worldwide Ltd, Birmingham, UK, pp. 711-716. 

Hyde, C. Johnson, T. Owen, D. Quibel, M. Sheppard, R. C., In Innovation and Perspectives in Solid Phase Peptide Synthesis Peptides, Proteins and Nucleic Acids, Biological and Biomedical Applications, Epton, R., Ed. Mayflower Worldwide Birmingham, UK,... 

The unique combination of organic chemistry and molecular biology which is nowadays applied in nucleic acid synthesis and analysis led to a great interest in nucleic acid bioorganic chemistry. We give a few examples of recent synthetic endeavours in this field. 

As an activator of the phosphokinases, magnesium is essential in energy-requiring biological processes, such as activation of amino acids, acetate, and succinate synthesis of proteins, fats, coen2ymes, and nucleic acids generation and transmission of nerve impulses and muscle contraction (67). 

Much effort has been placed in the synthesis of compounds possessing a chiral center at the phosphoms atom, particularly three- and four-coordinate compounds such as tertiary phosphines, phosphine oxides, phosphonates, phosphinates, and phosphate esters (11). Some enantiomers are known to exhibit a variety of biological activities and are therefore of interest Oas agricultural chemicals, pharmaceuticals (qv), etc. Homochiral bisphosphines are commonly used in catalytic asymmetric syntheses providing good enantioselectivities (see also Nucleic acids). Excellent reviews of low coordinate (coordination numbers 1 and 2) phosphoms compounds are available (12). 

Chemistry, synthesis, and biological evaluation of purine 7-A-oxides relative to nucleic acids 97H(44)573. 

Synthesis and application in molecular biology of double-helical nucleic acids with covalent-bonded chains 98UK274. 

Quinone methides have been shown to be important intermediates in chemical synthesis,1 2 in lignin biosynthesis,3 and in the activity of antitumor and antibiotic agents.4 They react with many biologically relevant nucleophiles including alcohols,1 thiols,5-7 nucleic acids,8-10 proteins,6 11 and phosphodiesters.12 The reaction of nucleophiles with ortho- and /iara-quinone methides is pH dependent and can occur via either acid-catalyzed or uncatalyzed pathways.13-17 The electron transfer chemistry that is typical of the related quinones does not appear to play a role in the nucleophilic reactivity of QMs.18... 

The minimal cell, as the simplest system which has all the required properties of life (metabolism, self-reproduction and the ability to evolve), is presently studied as part of a new research discipline synthetic biology. This includes subjects such as synthesis in branches of biological systems, for example, of new RNA species, new peptides and new nucleic acid analogues, as well as the synthesis of peptide nucleic acids. One example is the work of M. R. Ghadiri and G. von Kiedrowski on self-replication of oligonucleotides and oligopeptides (Luisi, 2006b). 

This company founded in 1994, is a contract molecular biology and screening service company for the pharmaceutical, research, and clinical markets worldwide. Custom services include gene synthesis, DNA sequencing, site-directed mutagenesis, nucleic acid purification, and genotype/genetic analysis. 

The investigations directed at the synthesis of thymine-substituted polymers demonstrate that the type of functional groups displayed by nucleic acid bases are compatible with ROMP. Moreover, the application of MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry to the analysis of these polymers adds to the battery of tools available for the characterization of ROMP and its products. The utility of this approach for the creation of molecules with the desired biological properties, however, is still undetermined. It is unknown whether these thymine-substituted polymers can hybridize with nucleic acids. Moreover, ROMP does not provide a simple solution to the controlled synthesis of materials that display specific sequences composed of all five common nucleic acid bases. Nevertheless, the demonstration that metathesis reactions can be conducted with such substrates suggests that perhaps neobiopolymers that function as nucleic acid analogs can be synthesized by such processes. 

Virtually all biological reactions are stereospecific. This generalization applies not only to the enzyme-catalyzed reactions of intermediary metabolism, but also to the processes of nucleic acid synthesis and to the process of translation, in which the amino acids are linked in specific sequence to form the peptide chains of the enzymes. This review will be restricted mainly to some of the more elementary aspects of the stereospecificity of enzyme reactions, particularly to those features of chirality which have been worked out with the help of isotopes. 

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