Nucleic Acids Introduction

K. R. Mitchelson and J. Cheng Capillary Electrophoresis of Nucleic Acids-Introduction, Humana, 2004, ISBN 9781592590551. 

Nucleic acid (Introduction) Nucleic acid backbone (11.2) Nucleotide (11.1)... 

Nucleic acid (Introduction, Chapter 28) A biopolymer containing three types of monomer units heterocyclic aromatic amine bases derived from purine and pyrimidine, the monosaccharides D-ribose or 2-deoxy-D-iibose, and phosphoric add. 

Focuses on force field calculations for understanding the dynamic properties of proteins and nucleic acids. Provides a useful introduction to several computational techniques, including molecular mechanics minimization and molecular dynamics. Includes discussions of research involving structural changes and short time scale dynamics of these biomolecules, and the influence of solvent in these processes. 

Uracil is used more effectively, in nucleic acid synthesis within a rat hepatoma than in normal liver. This observation appears to have stimulated the synthesis of 5-fluorouracil (1027) as an antimetabolite mainly because the introduction of a fluorine atom involves a minimal increase in size. In the event, 5-fluorouracil did prove to have antineoplastic activity and it is now a valuable drug for treatment of tumors of the breast, colon or rectum, and to a lesser extent, gastric, hepatic, pancreatic, uterine, ovarian and bladder carcinomas. As with other drugs which interfere with DNA synthesis, the therapeutic index is quite low and great care is required during treatment (69MI21301). 

Epoxides are often encountered in nature, both as intermediates in key biosynthetic pathways and as secondary metabolites. The selective epoxidation of squa-lene, resulting in 2,3-squalene oxide, for example, is the prelude to the remarkable olefin oligomerization cascade that creates the steroid nucleus [7]. Tetrahydrodiols, the ultimate products of metabolism of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, bind to the nucleic acids of mammalian cells and are implicated in carcinogenesis [8], In organic synthesis, epoxides are invaluable building blocks for introduction of diverse functionality into the hydrocarbon backbone in a 1,2-fashion. It is therefore not surprising that chemistry of epoxides has received much attention [9]. 

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... 

The growing interest for the identification and characterization of polar and large compounds caused the development and the introduction of new ionization techniques, such as electrospray ionization (ESI)[4], and matrix assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI),[5] and their more recent improvements, thus establishing new MS based approaches for studying large molecules, polymers and biopolymers, such as proteins, carbohydrates, nucleic acids. 

When the 7,8-hydroxyl groups are missing, epoxide introduction occurs from both sides of the pyrene ring. Thus 7,8-dihydrobenzo(a)-pyrene is cooxidized by PGH synthase to a potent mutagen that is identified by product and nucleic acid binding studies as 9,10-epoxy-7,8,9,10-tetrahydrobenzo(a)pyrene (Equation 3) (32). The structures... 

Gaur, R., Sharma, S., and Gupta, K.C. (1989) A simple method for the introduction of thiol group at 5 -termini of oligodeoxynucleotides. Nucleic Acids Res. 17, 4404. 

Figure 2.16 Orientations found in DNA helices. (Adapted with permission from Figure 2.11 of Saenger, W. Principles of Nucleic Acid Structure, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1984 copyright 1984, Springer-Verlag, New York and Figure 1.22 A, B, C of Cowan, J. A. Inorganic Biochemistry, An Introduction, 2nd ed., Wiley-VCH, New York, 1997. Copyright 1997, Wiley-VCH.)...

Glasel JA, Deutscher MP (1995) Introduction to biophysical methods for protein and nucleic acid research. Academic Press, San Diego (ISBN 0-12-286230-9)... 

Garfin, D.E., in Introduction to Biophysical Methods for Protein and Nucleic Acid Research (Eds. J.A. Glasel and M.P. Deutscher), p. 53, Academic Press, San Diego, 1995. 

Mitchelson K.R., and Cheng J. (Eds), Capillary Electrophoresis of Nucleic Acids, Volume I Introduction to the Capillary Electrophoresis of Nucleic Acids Humana Press, Totowa. 

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