Nucleic acids, oxidation

Electrochemically Activated Nucleic Acid Oxidation Dean H. Johnston, Thomas W. Welch, and H. Holden Thorp... 

I am grateful for continuous support from the National Institute of General Medical Science (GM-054996) for our research on the mechanisms of nucleic acid oxidation. 

The emission yield from the horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-catalyzed luminol oxidations can be kicreased as much as a thousandfold upon addition of substituted phenols, eg, -iodophenol, -phenylphenol, or 6-hydroxybenzothiazole (119). Enhanced chemiluminescence, as this phenomenon is termed, has been the basis for several very sensitive immunometric assays that surpass the sensitivity of radioassay (120) techniques and has also been developed for detection of nucleic acid probes ia dot-slot. Southern, and Northern blot formats (121). 

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). 

Adenine (6-amino purine) and guanine (2-amino-6-oxy purine), the two common purines, are found in both DNA and RNA (Figure 11.4). Other naturally occurring purine derivatives include hypoxanthlne, xanthine, and uric acid (Figure 11.5). Flypoxanthine and xanthine are found only rarely as constituents of nucleic acids. Uric acid, the most oxidized state for a purine derivative, is never found in nucleic acids. 

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

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]. 

Nikolskii-Eisenman equation, 143 Nitric oxide, 121 Nonactin, 157 Nonfaradaic processes, 21 Normal pulse voltammetry, 67 Nucleic acids, 82, 185... 

Scarei S., Giovine M., Gasparini A., Damonte G., Millo E., Pozzolini M., Benatti U. Modified peptide nucleic acids are internalized in mouse macrophages RAW 264.7 and inhibit inducible nitric oxide synthase. FEB. S. Lett. 1999 451 264-268. 

Human tissues can synthesize purines and pyrimidines from amphibolic intermediates. Ingested nucleic acids and nucleotides, which therefore are dietarily nonessential, are degraded in the intestinal tract to mononucleotides, which may be absorbed or converted to purine and pyrimidine bases. The purine bases are then oxidized to uric acid, which may be absorbed and excreted in the urine. While little or no dietary purine or pyrimidine is incorporated into tissue nucleic acids, injected compounds are incorporated. The incorporation of injected [ H] thymidine into newly synthesized DNA thus is used to measure the rate of DNA synthesis. 

Copper is an essential trace element. It is required in the diet because it is the metal cofactor for a variety of enzymes (see Table 50—5). Copper accepts and donates electrons and is involved in reactions involving dismu-tation, hydroxylation, and oxygenation. However, excess copper can cause problems because it can oxidize proteins and hpids, bind to nucleic acids, and enhance the production of free radicals. It is thus important to have mechanisms that will maintain the amount of copper in the body within normal hmits. The body of the normal adult contains about 100 mg of copper, located mostly in bone, liver, kidney, and muscle. The daily intake of copper is about 2—A mg, with about 50% being absorbed in the stomach and upper small intestine and the remainder excreted in the feces. Copper is carried to the liver bound to albumin, taken up by liver cells, and part of it is excreted in the bile. Copper also leaves the liver attached to ceruloplasmin, which is synthesized in that organ. 

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