Polynucleotides with Their Components

The preparation of immobilized co-enzymes and their applications in general affinity chromatography and as active co-enzymes have been reviewed. The most significant methods of immobilization of polynucleotides have been described and their applications discussed. " Another article reviews affinity electrophoresis, a new separation technique involving electrophoresis on a carrier containing immobilized ligands capable of specific interaction with some component(s) of the mixture to be separated. ... 

That being so, some of the common nucleases which degrade ordinary polynucleotides could well have evolved to interact primarily with polynucleotides whose nucleoside components are anti. It is of interest, in this regard, that the diesterases from spleen and snake venom, and micrococcal nuclease, do not digest poly F, which is syn also that the specificity of pancreatic RNase for the natural substrates - uridine and cytidine - is based on their normal anti conformation. 

Antibodies induced by the equimolar complex poly A poly U precipitate one of the components of the homologous antigen, poly A (Nahon et al., 1967 a, b). This reaction was not observed by Schwartz and Stollar (1969) A quantitative analysis of the reactions of these antibodies with the homologous antigen and with its component polynucleotides, and of their reaction with related antigens as well as the analysis of results of inhibition studies have allowed a better characterization of these antibodies (Nahon-Merlin et al., 1973 b). The level of antibodies reacting with poly A-poly U varies... 

As with polypeptides, the light absorption properties of polynucleotides reflect those of the individual components. The spectra of the purine and pyrimidine bases as ribonucleosides are shown in Fig. 5-5. The number of individual electronic transitions and their origins are not immediately obvious, but many measurements in solutions and in crystals, as well as theoretical computations,7 83 84 have been made. Cytosine has n-n transitions at -275, 230, 200, and... 

Specific polynucleotides are usually identified in gels by comparison of their mobilities with those of standards of appropriate length. However, mass spectrometry is being increasingly applied to the analysis of nucleic acids, particularly with respect to their complexes with proteins and small molecules (9,28-30). Soft ionization methods such as matrix-assisted laser desorption and electrospray are used to introduce the complexes into the gas phase but with insufficient energy so as to promote dissociation of the molecular components. The mass of the complex provides information on the identities of the components and their stoichiometries. 

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