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Ivanov GS, Tribulovich VG, Pestov NB, David TI, Amoah AS, Korneenko TV, Barlev NA. Artificial genetic polymers against human pathologies. Biol Direct 2022; 17:39. [PMID: 36474260 PMCID: PMC9727881 DOI: 10.1186/s13062-022-00353-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2022] [Accepted: 11/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Originally discovered by Nielsen in 1991, peptide nucleic acids and other artificial genetic polymers have gained a lot of interest from the scientific community. Due to their unique biophysical features these artificial hybrid polymers are now being employed in various areas of theranostics (therapy and diagnostics). The current review provides an overview of their structure, principles of rational design, and biophysical features as well as highlights the areas of their successful implementation in biology and biomedicine. Finally, the review discusses the areas of improvement that would allow their use as a new class of therapeutics in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gleb S Ivanov
- Institute of Cytology, Tikhoretsky Ave 4, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 194064
- St. Petersburg State Technological Institute (Technical University), Saint Petersburg, Russia, 190013
| | - Vyacheslav G Tribulovich
- St. Petersburg State Technological Institute (Technical University), Saint Petersburg, Russia, 190013
| | - Nikolay B Pestov
- Chumakov Federal Scientific Center for Research and Development of Immune-and-Biological Products, Moscow, Russia, 108819
- Phystech School of Biological and Medical Physics, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region, Russia, 141701
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Moscow, Russia, 117997
- Institute of Biomedical Chemistry, Moscow, Russia, 119121б
| | - Temitope I David
- Phystech School of Biological and Medical Physics, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region, Russia, 141701
| | - Abdul-Saleem Amoah
- Phystech School of Biological and Medical Physics, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region, Russia, 141701
| | - Tatyana V Korneenko
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Moscow, Russia, 117997
| | - Nikolai A Barlev
- Institute of Cytology, Tikhoretsky Ave 4, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 194064.
- Institute of Biomedical Chemistry, Moscow, Russia, 119121б.
- School of Medicine, Nazarbayev University, 010000, Astana, Kazakhstan.
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2
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Bege M, Borbás A. The Medicinal Chemistry of Artificial Nucleic Acids and Therapeutic Oligonucleotides. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2022; 15:ph15080909. [PMID: 35893733 PMCID: PMC9330994 DOI: 10.3390/ph15080909] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2022] [Revised: 07/17/2022] [Accepted: 07/20/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Nucleic acids play a central role in human biology, making them suitable and attractive tools for therapeutic applications. While conventional drugs generally target proteins and induce transient therapeutic effects, nucleic acid medicines can achieve long-lasting or curative effects by targeting the genetic bases of diseases. However, native oligonucleotides are characterized by low in vivo stability due to nuclease sensitivity and unfavourable physicochemical properties due to their polyanionic nature, which are obstacles to their therapeutic use. A myriad of synthetic oligonucleotides have been prepared in the last few decades and it has been shown that proper chemical modifications to either the nucleobase, the ribofuranose unit or the phosphate backbone can protect the nucleic acids from degradation, enable efficient cellular uptake and target localization ensuring the efficiency of the oligonucleotide-based therapy. In this review, we present a summary of structure and properties of artificial nucleic acids containing nucleobase, sugar or backbone modifications, and provide an overview of the structure and mechanism of action of approved oligonucleotide drugs including gene silencing agents, aptamers and mRNA vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miklós Bege
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary;
- Institute of Healthcare Industry, University of Debrecen, Nagyerdei körút 98, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary
- MTA-DE Molecular Recognition and Interaction Research Group, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Anikó Borbás
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary;
- National Laboratory of Virology, University of Pécs, Ifjúság útja 20, 7624 Pécs, Hungary
- Correspondence:
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Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Homo-DNA: The Role of Crystal Packing in Duplex Conformation. CRYSTALS 2019. [DOI: 10.3390/cryst9100532] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The (4′→6′)-linked DNA homolog 2′,3′-dideoxy-β-D-glucopyranosyl nucleic acid (dideoxy-glucose nucleic acid or homo-DNA) exhibits stable self-pairing of the Watson–Crick and reverse-Hoogsteen types, but does not cross-pair with DNA. Molecular modeling and NMR solution studies of homo-DNA duplexes pointed to a conformation that was nearly devoid of a twist and a stacking distance in excess of 4.5 Å. By contrast, the crystal structure of the homo-DNA octamer dd(CGAATTCG) revealed a right-handed duplex with average values for helical twist and rise of ca. 15° and 3.8 Å, respectively. Other key features of the structure were strongly inclined base-pair and backbone axes in the duplex with concomitant base-pair slide and cross-strand stacking, and the formation of a dimer across a crystallographic dyad with inter-duplex base swapping. To investigate the conformational flexibility of the homo-DNA duplex and a potential influence of lattice interactions on its geometry, we used molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of the crystallographically observed dimer of duplexes and an isolated duplex in the solution state. The dimer of duplexes showed limited conformational flexibility, and key parameters such as helical rise, twist, and base-pair slide exhibited only minor fluctuations. The single duplex was clearly more flexible by comparison and underwent partial unwinding, albeit without significant lengthening. Thus, base stacking was preserved in the isolated duplex and two adenosines extruded from the stack in the dimer of duplexes were reinserted into the duplex and pair with Ts in a Hoogsteen mode. Our results confirmed that efficient stacking in homo-DNA seen in the crystal structure of a dimer of duplexes was maintained in the separate duplex. Therefore, lattice interactions did not account for the different geometries of the homo-DNA duplex in the crystal and earlier models that resembled inclined ladders with large base-pair separations that precluded efficient stacking.
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Toti K, Renders M, Groaz E, Herdewijn P, Van Calenbergh S. Nucleosides with Transposed Base or 4'-Hydroxymethyl Moieties and Their Corresponding Oligonucleotides. Chem Rev 2015; 115:13484-525. [PMID: 26655745 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.5b00545] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
This review focuses on 4'-hydroxymethyl- or nucleobase-transposed nucleosides, nucleotides, and nucleoside phosphonates, their stereoisomers, and their close analogues. The biological activities of all known 4'-hydroxymethyl- or nucleobase-transposed nucleosides, nucleotides, and nucleoside phosphonates as potential antiviral or anticancer agents are compiled. The routes that have been taken for the chemical synthesis of such nucleoside derivatives are described, with special attention to the innovative strategies. The enzymatic synthesis, base-pairing properties, structure, and stability of oligonucleotides containing nucleobase- or 4'-hydroxymethyl-transposed nucleotides are discussed. The use of oligonucleotides containing nucleobase- or 4'-hydroxymethyl-transposed nucleotides as small oligonucleotide (e.g., human immunodeficiency virus integrase) inhibitors, in applications such as antisense therapy, silencing RNA (siRNA), or aptamer selections, is detailed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kiran Toti
- Laboratory for Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ghent University , Ottergemsesteenweg 460, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Marleen Renders
- Laboratory for Medicinal Chemistry, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven , Minderbroedersstraat 10, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Elisabetta Groaz
- Laboratory for Medicinal Chemistry, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven , Minderbroedersstraat 10, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Piet Herdewijn
- Laboratory for Medicinal Chemistry, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven , Minderbroedersstraat 10, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Serge Van Calenbergh
- Laboratory for Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ghent University , Ottergemsesteenweg 460, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
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Li P, Sun J, Su M, Yang X, Tang X. Design, synthesis and properties of artificial nucleic acids from (R)-4-amino-butane-1,3-diol. Org Biomol Chem 2014; 12:2263-72. [PMID: 24569918 DOI: 10.1039/c3ob42291g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
A new artificial nucleic acid analogue, (R)-Am-BuNA, was developed with a simplified acyclic (R)-4-amino-butane-1,3-diol phosphodiester backbone. Phosphoramidite monomers of (R)-Am-BuNA were incorporated into DNA oligonucleotides (ODNs) and G-quadruplexes. Their thermal stability, conformation change and biological stability were further investigated using UV-melting, circular dichroism (CD) and gel electrophoresis. The results suggested that thermal stability of the duplexes of (R)-Am-BuNA modified ODNs and their complementary ODN is highly dependent on the substitution position. Substitution of thymidine at the 7th position in a thrombin-binding DNA aptamer (TBA) results in a slight increase in Tm with no effect on quadruplex conformation on the CD spectrum in comparison to that of the natural G-quadruplex. Further enzymatic experiments with fetal bovine serum (FBS) and snake venom phosphodiesterase (SVPDE) indicated that only single replacement of a (R)-Am-BuNA modified nucleobase greatly inhibited oligonucleotide degradation, which shows their promising applications as capping nucleotides in nucleic acid drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pengfei Li
- State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China, and State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China.
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Eschenmoser A. Ätiologie potentiell primordialer Biomolekül-Strukturen: Vom Vitamin B12 zu den Nukleinsäuren und der Frage nach der Chemie der Entstehung des Lebens - ein Rückblick. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2011. [DOI: 10.1002/ange.201103672] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
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Eschenmoser A. Etiology of potentially primordial biomolecular structures: from vitamin B12 to the nucleic acids and an inquiry into the chemistry of life's origin: a retrospective. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2011; 50:12412-72. [PMID: 22162284 DOI: 10.1002/anie.201103672] [Citation(s) in RCA: 135] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2011] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
"We'll never be able to know" is a truism that leads to resignation with respect to any experimental effort to search for the chemistry of life's origin. But such resignation runs radically counter to the challenge imposed upon chemistry as a natural science. Notwithstanding the prognosis according to which the shortest path to understanding the metamorphosis of the chemical into the biological is by way of experimental modeling of "artificial chemical life", the scientific search for the route nature adopted in creating the life we know will arguably never truly end. It is, after all, part of the search for our own origin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Albert Eschenmoser
- Organisch-chemisches Laboratorium der ETH Zürich, Hönggerberg, Wolfgang-Pauli-Str. 10, CHI H309, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland
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Evolution of functional nucleic acids in the presence of nonheritable backbone heterogeneity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2011; 108:13492-7. [PMID: 21825162 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1107113108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Multiple lines of evidence support the hypothesis that the early evolution of life was dominated by RNA, which can both transfer information from generation to generation through replication directed by base-pairing, and carry out biochemical activities by folding into functional structures. To understand how life emerged from prebiotic chemistry we must therefore explain the steps that led to the emergence of the RNA world, and in particular, the synthesis of RNA. The generation of pools of highly pure ribonucleotides on the early Earth seems unlikely, but the presence of alternative nucleotides would support the assembly of nucleic acid polymers containing nonheritable backbone heterogeneity. We suggest that homogeneous monomers might not have been necessary if populations of heterogeneous nucleic acid molecules could evolve reproducible function. For such evolution to be possible, function would have to be maintained despite the repeated scrambling of backbone chemistry from generation to generation. We have tested this possibility in a simplified model system, by using a T7 RNA polymerase variant capable of transcribing nucleic acids that contain an approximately 11 mixture of deoxy- and ribonucleotides. We readily isolated nucleotide-binding aptamers by utilizing an in vitro selection process that shuffles the order of deoxy- and ribonucleotides in each round. We describe two such RNA/DNA mosaic nucleic acid aptamers that specifically bind ATP and GTP, respectively. We conclude that nonheritable variations in nucleic acid backbone structure may not have posed an insurmountable barrier to the emergence of functionality in early nucleic acids.
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Ebert MO, Jaun B. Oligonucleotides with sugars other than ribo- and 2'-deoxyribofuranose in the backbone: the solution structures determined by NMR in the context of the 'Etiology of nucleic acids' project of Albert Eschenmoser. Chem Biodivers 2011; 7:2103-28. [PMID: 20860021 DOI: 10.1002/cbdv.201000096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Marc-Olivier Ebert
- Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, ETH Zürich, Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 10, Zürich
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10
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Egli M, Pallan PS, Pattanayek R, Wilds CJ, Lubini P, Minasov G, Dobler M, Leumann CJ, Eschenmoser A. Crystal structure of homo-DNA and nature's choice of pentose over hexose in the genetic system. J Am Chem Soc 2007; 128:10847-56. [PMID: 16910680 DOI: 10.1021/ja062548x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
An experimental rationalization of the structure type encountered in DNA and RNA by systematically investigating the chemical and physical properties of alternative nucleic acids has identified systems with a variety of sugar-phosphate backbones that are capable of Watson-Crick base pairing and in some cases cross-pairing with the natural nucleic acids. The earliest among the model systems tested to date, (4' --> 6')-linked oligo(2',3'-dideoxy-beta-d-glucopyranosyl)nucleotides or homo-DNA, shows stable self-pairing, but the pairing rules for the four natural bases are not the same as those in DNA. However, a complete interpretation and understanding of the properties of the hexapyranosyl (4' --> 6') family of nucleic acids has been impeded until now by the lack of detailed 3D-structural data. We have determined the crystal structure of a homo-DNA octamer. It reveals a weakly twisted right-handed duplex with a strong inclination between the hexose-phosphate backbones and base-pair axes, and highly irregular values for helical rise and twist at individual base steps. The structure allows a rationalization of the inability of allo-, altro-, and glucopyranosyl-based oligonucleotides to form stable pairing systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Egli
- Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37232, USA.
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Corradini R, Sforza S, Tedeschi T, Marchelli R. Chirality as a tool in nucleic acid recognition: principles and relevance in biotechnology and in medicinal chemistry. Chirality 2007; 19:269-94. [PMID: 17345563 DOI: 10.1002/chir.20372] [Citation(s) in RCA: 109] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
The understanding of the interaction of chiral species with DNA or RNA is very important for the development of new tools in biology and of new drugs. Several cases in which chirality is a crucial point in determining the DNA binding mode are reviewed and discussed, with the aim of illustrating how chirality can be considered as a tool for improving the understanding of mechanisms and the effectiveness of nucleic acid recognition. The review is divided into two parts: the former describes examples of chiral species interacting with DNA: intercalators, metal complexes, and groove binders; the latter part is dedicated to chirality in DNA analogs, with discussion of phosphate stereochemistry and chirality of ribose substitutes, in particular of peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) for which a number of works have been published recently dealing with the effect of chirality in DNA recognition. The discussion is intended to show how enantiomeric recognition originates at the molecular level, by exploiting the enormous progresses recently achieved in the field of structural characterization of complexes formed by nucleic acid with their ligands by crystallographic and spectroscopic methods. Examples of application of the DNA binding molecules described and the role of chirality in DNA recognition relevant for biotechnology or medicinal chemistry are reported.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roberto Corradini
- Dipartimento di Chimica Organica e Industriale, Università di Parma, I-4310 Parma, Italy.
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12
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Wilds CJ, Wawrzak Z, Krishnamurthy R, Eschenmoser A, Egli M. Crystal structure of a B-form DNA duplex containing (L)-alpha-threofuranosyl (3'-->2') nucleosides: a four-carbon sugar is easily accommodated into the backbone of DNA. J Am Chem Soc 2002; 124:13716-21. [PMID: 12431101 DOI: 10.1021/ja0207807] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
(L)-alpha-Threofuranosyl-(3'-->2')-oligonucleotides (TNA) containing vicinally connected phosphodiester linkages undergo informational base pairing in an antiparallel strand orientation and are capable of cross-pairing with RNA and DNA. TNA is derived from a sugar containing only four carbon atoms and is one of the simplest potentially natural nucleic acid alternatives investigated thus far in the context of a chemical etiology of nucleic acid structure. Compared to DNA and RNA that contain six covalent bonds per repeating nucleotide unit, TNA contains only five. We have determined the atomic-resolution crystal structure of the B-form DNA duplex [d(CGCGAA)Td(TCGCG)](2) containing a single (L)-alpha-threofuranosyl thymine (T) per strand. In the modified duplex base stacking interactions are practically unchanged relative to the reference DNA structure. The orientations of the backbone at the TNA incorporation sites are slightly altered in order to accommodate fewer atoms and covalent bonds. The conformation of the threose is C4'-exo with the 2'- and 3'-substituents assuming quasi-diaxial orientation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher J Wilds
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, USA
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Abstract
Mainly driven by the needs of antisense research, a large number of oligonucleotide analogues have been prepared and evaluated over the last 15 years. Besides minor structural modifications of the building blocks of DNA and RNA itself, a considerable effort has been devoted to the de novo design of nucleoside analogues with improved binding properties. A particularly successful concept turned out to be that of conformational restriction. This review focuses on recent advances in this area and tries to summarize scope and limitations of this design principle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian J Leumann
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern, Freiestrasse 3, CH-3012, Bern, Switzerland.
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Ilin S, Schlönvogt I, Ebert MO, Jaun B, Schwalbe H. Comparison of the NMR Spectroscopy Solution Structures of Pyranosyl-RNA and Its Nucleo-δ-peptide Analogue. Chembiochem 2002; 3:93-9. [PMID: 17590959 DOI: 10.1002/1439-7633(20020104)3:1<93::aid-cbic93>3.0.co;2-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The design of polymers that could mimic biomolecules in their ability to form assemblies similar to ribo- and deoxyribonucleic acids has become an attractive field of chemical research, and NMR spectroscopy has played a vital role in the determination of the three-dimensional structure of these newly designed nonnatural polymers. The structure of a self-complementary octamer duplex of pyranosyl-RNA (pRNA) has been determined by using NMR spectroscopy experimental data and an Xplor structure calculation protocol. The structure has been compared with the structure of a duplex formed by a designed nucleo-delta-peptide analogue of pRNA. The two duplexes assume one predominant conformation and show a high structural similarity. The conformation type of both structures agrees with those predicted based on qualitative conformational analysis and both structures show a good convergence toward the average torsion angles derived by NMR spectroscopy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergey Ilin
- Department of Chemistry and MIT/Harvard Center for Magnetic Resonance, Francis Bitter Magnet Laboratory Massachusetts Institute of Technology 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
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Affiliation(s)
- D J Hill
- Department of Chemistry and Materials Science & Engineering, The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA
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Abstract
What was the genetic material of the earliest life forms on Earth if it was not RNA? As Orgel explains in his Perspective, the answer may be simpler nucleic acid polymers perhaps like the RNA analogs called (L)-a-threofuranosyl oligonucleotides or TNAs (Schöning et al.). These molecules have threose rather than ribose in their sugar-phosphate backbones and yet retain many of the properties of RNA including the ability to pair up in double helices.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Orgel
- Salk Institute for Biomedical Study, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
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Schöning K, Scholz P, Guntha S, Wu X, Krishnamurthy R, Eschenmoser A. Chemical etiology of nucleic acid structure: the alpha-threofuranosyl-(3'-->2') oligonucleotide system. Science 2000; 290:1347-51. [PMID: 11082060 DOI: 10.1126/science.290.5495.1347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 401] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
TNAs [(L)-alpha-threofuranosyl oligonucleotides] containing vicinally connected (3'-->2') phosphodiester bridges undergo informational base pairing in antiparallel strand orientation and are capable of cross-pairing with RNA and DNA. Being derived from a sugar containing only four carbons, TNA is structurally the simplest of all potentially natural oligonucleotide-type nucleic acid alternatives studied thus far. This, along with the base-pairing properties of TNA, warrants close scrutiny of the system in the context of the problem of RNA's origin.
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Affiliation(s)
- K Schöning
- The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology at The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
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