Nucleic acids chemical synthesis

Adenylic Acid. Adenosine 3 -monophosphate adenosine - 3 -phosphoric acid adenosine - 3 -monophos-phoric acid adenylic acid b yeast adenylic acid synadenylic acid h-adenylic acid. C HuNjOyP mol wt 347.23. C 34.59%, H 4.06%, N 20.17%, O 32.26%, P 8.92%. Early prepns from yeast nucleic acid Levene. Bass, Nucleic Acids, (Chemical Catalogue Co., New York, 1931). Early work probebty done on mixtures of 2 - and 3 -adenylic acids both compds isomerize readily to form an equilibrium mix -Hire under acid conditions Carter, Cohn, Fed. Proc. 8, 190 (1949) Baddily, in The Nucleic Acids vol. 1, E. Chargaff, J. N. Davidson, Eds. (Academic Press, New Yotk, 1955) pp 165-168 A. M. Michelson, The Chemistry of Nucleoside and Nucleotides (Academic Press, New York, 1963) pp 100-106. Synthesis Brnwn, Todd, J. Chem. Soc. 1952, 44. Structure nf dihydrate Brown el at, Nature 172, 1184... 

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). 

Nucleic acids are the molecules of the genetic apparatus. They direct protein biosynthesis in the body and are the raw materials of genetic technology (see Genetic engineering). Most often polynucleotides are synthesized microbiologicaHy, or at least enzymatically, but chemical synthesis is possible. 

Nucleic acids in the DNA contain a high number of nucleophilic sites that can be attacked by electrophilic intermediates (metabolites) of chemical compounds. DNA adducts formed may cause alterations in the expression of a critical gene in the cell and thus lead to cell death. For example, modification of p53 tumor suppressor gene may inactivate the functions of the p53 protein and render cells sensitive to malignant transformation. Also, formation of RNA adducts may inhibit key cellular events because RNA is essential for protein synthesis. 

Nucleic acids are the last of the four major classes of biomolecules we ll consider. So much has been written and spoken about DNA in the media that the basics of DNA replication and transcription are probably known to you. Thus, we ll move fairly quickly through the fundamentals and then focus more closely on the chemical details of DNA sequencing and synthesis. 

Dacarbazine is activated by photodecomposition (chemical breakdown caused by radiant energy) and by enzymatic N-demethylation. Formation of a methyl carbonium ion results in methylation of DNA and RNA and inhibition of nucleic acid and protein synthesis. Cells in all phases of the cell cycle are susceptible to dacarbazine. The drug is not appreciably protein bound, and it does not enter the central nervous system. 

Recent developments in DNA/RNA chemical synthesis have allowed us to attach some functional groups covalently to nucleic acids, thus permitting the introduction of a functionality or properties not normally present in the native biomolecule The use of non-nucleosidic linkers is probably the most popular approach for the 5 -terminal modification of chemically synthesized nucleic acid oligonucleotides and a number of such linkers are commercially available. The linker shown in Fig. 2 is designed as a phosphoramidate derivative so that it can be incorporated into the 5 -terminus of the sequence as the last... 

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... 

A virus-specific RNA RNA polymerase is needed, since the cell RNA polymerase will generally not copy double-stranded RNA (and ribosomes are not able to translate double-stranded RNA either). A wide variety of modes of viral mRNA synthesis are outlined in Figure. By convention, the chemical sense of the mRNA is considered to be of the plus (+) configuration. The sense of the viral genome nucleic acid is then indicated by a plus if it is the same as the mRNA and a minus if it is of oppposite sense. If the virus has double-stranded DNA (ds DNA), then mRNA synthesis can proceed directly as in uninfected cells. However, if the virus has a singlestranded DNA (ss DNA), then it is first converted to ds DNA and the latter serves as the template for mRNA synthesis with the cell RNA polymerase. 

As already mentioned, a continual inflow of energy is necessary to maintain the stationary state of a living system. It is mostly chemical energy which is injected into the system, for example by activated amino acids in protein biosynthesis (see Sect. 5.3) or by nucleoside triphosphates in nucleic acid synthesis. Energy flow is always accompanied by entropy production (dS/dt), which is composed of two contributions ... 

In addition, Dose and Seitz (2005) employed native chemical ligation to synthesize peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) by linking shorter segments of PNAs to make long contiguous strands, which could not be made through typical oligo synthesis procedures. 

Dose, C., and Seitz, O. (2005) Convergent synthesis of peptide nucleic acids by native chemical ligation. Org. Lett. 7(20), 4365-4368. 

RNAi technology has obvious therapeutic potential as an antisense agent, and initial therapeutic targets of RNAi include viral infection, neurological diseases and cancer therapy. The synthesis of dsRNA displaying the desired nucleotide sequence is straightforward. However, as in the case of additional nucleic-acid-based therapeutic approaches, major technical hurdles remain to be overcome before RNAi becomes a therapeutic reality. Naked unmodified siRNAs for example display a serum half-life of less than 1 min, due to serum nuclease degradation. Approaches to improve the RNAi pharmacokinetic profile include chemical modification of the nucleotide backbone, to render it nuclease resistant, and the use of viral or non-viral vectors, to achieve safe product delivery to cells. As such, the jury remains out in terms of the development and approval of RNAi-based medicines, in the short to medium term at least. 

The application of solid-phase synthesis and automation has revolutionized much of the chemical and biochemical research related to peptides and nucleic acids.5 Thus, it is likely that successful methods to synthesize oligosaccharides and glycoconjugates... 

In 2004, Rayner and coworkers reported a dynamic system for stabilizing nucleic acid duplexes by covalently appending small molecules [34]. These experiments started with a system in which 2-amino-2 -deoxyuridine (U-NH ) was site-specifically incorporated into nucleic acid strands via chemical synthesis. In the first example, U-NH was incorporated at the 3 end of the self-complementary U(-NH2)GCGCA DNA. This reactive amine-functionalized uridine was then allowed to undergo imine formation with a series of aldehydes (Ra-Rc), and aldehyde appendages that stabilize the DNA preferentially formed in the dynamic system. Upon equilibration and analysis, it was found that the double-stranded DNA modified with nalidixic aldehyde Rc at both U-NH positions was amplified 34% at the expense of Ra and Rb (Fig. 3.16). The Rc-appended DNA stabilizing modification corresponded to a 33% increase in (melting temperature). Furthermore, imine reduction of the stabilized DNA complex with NaCNBH, resulted in a 57% increase in T. ... 

The ability to synthesize chemically short sequences of single-stranded DNA (oligonucleotides) is an essential part of many aspects of genetic engineering. The method most frequently employed is that of solid-phase synthesis, where the basic philosophy is the same as that in solid-phase peptide synthesis (see Section 13.6.3). In other words, the growing nucleic acid is attached to a suitable solid support, protected nucleotides are supplied in the appropriate sequence, and each addition is followed by repeated coupling and deprotection cycles. 

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