Chemistry and Biological Role of Nucleic Acids

Physical chemistry of nucleic acids.

The Watson-Crick double helix of DNA was first revealed in 1953. Since then a wide range of physical chemical methods have been applied to DNA and to its more versatile relative RNA to determine their structures and functions. My major goal is to predict the folded structure of any RNA from its sequence. We have used bulk and single-molecule measurements of thermodynamics and kinetics, plus var...

Understanding nucleic acids using synthetic chemistry.

This Account describes work done in these laboratories that has used synthetic, physical organic, and biological chemistry to understand the roles played by the nucleobases, sugars, and phosphates of DNA in the molecular recognition processes central to genetics. The number of nucleobases has been increased from 4 to 12, generating an artificially expanded genetic information system. This syste...

Twentyfourth Symposium on Nucleic Acids Chemistry Held

Biological Function of G-Quadruplex Nucleic Acids and Potential Application in Medicinal Chemistry.

G-Quadruplexes are special secondary structures adopted in some guanine-rich DNA sequences. The highly prevalent putative existence of G-quadruplex and the influence on genomic stability, telomere maintenance and gene expression indicate that G-quadruplexes may play important roles in biological processes [1]. Many research findings have provided substantive evidence for potential applications ...

The Chemistry of the Nucleic Acids and Nucleoproteins

Isolation of nucleoproteins.-Many methods for isolating nucleoproteins involve a stage, either during the extraction or more generally in the precipitation process, which is relatively drastic and may produce an alteration in the chemical and physical properties of the nucleoprotein ; thus the majority of preparations involve precipitation of the extracted material with hydrochloric or acetic a...