Proteins nucleic acids, separation

Chemists and biochemists And it convenient to divide the principal organic substances present m cells into four mam groups carbohydrates proteins nucleic acids and lipids Structural differences separate carbo hydrates from proteins and both of these are structurally distinct from nucleic acids Lipids on the other hand are characterized by a physical property their solubility m nonpolar solvents rather than by their structure In this chapter we have examined lipid molecules that share a common biosynthetic origin m that all their carbons are derived from acetic acid (acetate) The form m which acetate occurs m many of these processes is a thioester called acetyl coenzyme A... 

Biopolymers are the naturally occurring macromolecular materials that are the components of all living systems. There are three principal categories of biopolymers, each of which is the topic of a separate article in the Eniyclopedia proteins (qv) nucleic acids (qv) and polysaccharides (see Carbohydrates Microbial polysaccharides). Biopolymers are formed through condensation of monomeric units ie, the corresponding monomers are amino acids (qv), nucleotides, and monosaccharides, for proteins, nucleic acids, and polysaccharides, respectively. The term biopolymers is also used to describe synthetic polymers prepared from the same or similar monomer units as are the natural molecules. 

HPLC is frequently employed in the analysis of amino acids, peptides, proteins, nucleic acids, and nucleotides. HPLC is also often used to analyze for drugs in biological samples (see Workplace Scene 16.2). Due to the complex nature of the molecules to be analyzed, these techniques tend to be more complex than HPLC applications in other areas of analytical chemistry. For example, separation of nucleotides or amino acids is more difficult than testing for caffeine in beverages, even though the same instrument and same general methods would be employed. A variety of columns and mobile phases are regularly employed. 

P Lundahl, Q Yang. Liposome chromatography a new mode of separation using lipid bilayer. Protein Nucleic acid Enzyme (Tokyo) 35 1983-1998, 1990 (in Japanese). 

Gel Electrophoresis. This is becoming a more commonly used procedure for purifying proteins, nucleic acids, nucleoproteins, polysaccharides and carbohydrates. The gels can be electroblotted onto membranes and the modem procedures of identifying, sequencing (proteins and nucleic acids) and amplifying (nucleic acids) on sub-micro scales have made this technique of separation a very important one. (See D.Patel Gel Electrophoresis, J.Wiley-Lis, Inc., 1994). 

Separating Biomolecules In studying a particular biomolecule (a protein, nucleic acid, carbohydrate, or lipid) in the laboratory, the biochemist first needs to separate it from other biomolecules in the sample—that is, to purify it. Specific purification techniques are described later in the text. However, by looking at the monomeric subunits of a biomolecule, you should have some ideas about the characteristics of the molecule that would allow you to separate it from other molecules. For example, how would you separate (a) amino acids from fatty acids and (b) nucleotides from glucose ... 

Like proteins, nucleic acids can undergo denatur-ation. The strands of the double helix of DNA are separated and the double-stranded regions of RNA molecules "melt." Denaturation can be accomplished by addition of acids, bases, and alcohols or by removal of stabilizing counter ions such as Mg2+. The product is a random coil and denaturation can be described as a helix —> coil transition. Denaturation of nucleic acids by heat, like that of proteins, is cooperative (Chapter 7, Section A,3) and can be described by a characteristic melting temperature. 

The modified cellulose filter binding assay is based on the tight binding of proteins to this kind of filter material. When a protein-nucleic acid mixture is filtered, proteins are retained on the filter while nucleic acids are washed through. However, nucleic acids are also retained on the filter if they are bound to proteins. Thus, free and protein-bound nucleic acids can be separated [43]. 

Many of the same models and techniques have been used to study the transitions in these two types of biopolymers, and we will present some common background information first. Then we will specialize and present the results of important thermodynamic studies in proteins and nucleic acids separately. However, common to both reports is the observation that the application of thermodynamic measurements and a thermodynamic analysis to carefully but widely chosen systems allows one to gain insights into structural details that complement molecular structure determinations obtained from instrumental techniques such as spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. 

Examples of NMR studies of the four classes of biomolecules (proteins, nucleic acids, lipids, and carbohydrates) are described in the next sections. Each class has unique characteristics, so they will be discussed separately. 

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