The mutagenic threat of hydrolytic DNA cytosine deamination is met mostly by uracil DNA glycosylases (UDG) initiating base excision repair. However, several sequenced genomes of archaeal organisms are devoid of genes coding for homologues of the otherwise ubiquitous UDG superfamily of proteins. Previously, two possible solutions to this problem were offered by (i) a report of a newly discovered...

We present ab initio Hartree-Fock lattice calculations on adenine, guanine and hypoxanthine, and some pyrimidines, including cytosine and uracil derivatives. The electric field gradients at the nitrogen centres are related to NQR experimental determinations of nuclear quadrupole coupling constants. The calculations were performed as lattice calculations in the unit cell environment, with 6-31G ...

The ability to genetically manipulatePlasmodium falciparum as been established for a number of years and it is an important ool for functional analysis of parasite genes using gene disuption [1], allelic exchange [2] and transgene expression [3]. his was established using positive selection for maintenance of ircular plasmids carrying a drug selectable marker such as Toxplasma gondii dihydrofol...

Hydration reactions of sodiated and potassiated nucleic acid bases (uracil, thymine, cytosine, and adenine) produced by electrospray have been studied in a gas phase using the pulsed ion-beam high-pressure mass spectrometer. The thermochemical properties, ΔH(o)(n), ΔS(o)(n), and ΔG(o)(n), for the hydrated systems were obtained from hydration equilibrium measurement. The structural aspects of th...

An understanding of DNA methylation and its potential role in gene control during development, aging and cancer has been hampered by a lack of sensitive methods which can resolve exact methylation patterns from only small quantities of DNA. We have now developed a genomic sequencing technique which is capable of detecting every methylated cytosine on both strands of any target sequence, using D...

Semi-classical simulations of the UV-photoabsorption cross sections of adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine, and uracil in gas phase were performed at the resolution-of-identity coupled cluster to the second-order (RI-CC2) level. With the exception of cytosine, the spectra of the other four nucleobases show a two band pattern separated by a low intensity region. The spectrum of cytosine is shape...

A simple explanation for the symmetry of the genetic code has been suggested. An alternative to the wobble hypothesis has been proposed. The facts revealed in this study offer a new insight into physical mechanisms of the functioning of the genetic code. The wobble hypothesis, which was first proposed more than 40 years ago [1], can explain two events: 1) formation of the uracil­guanine pair as...

Activation induced deaminase (AID) deaminates cytosine to uracil, which is required for a functional humoral immune system. Previous work demonstrated, that AID also deaminates 5-methylcytosine (5 mC). Recently, a novel vertebrate modification (5-hydroxymethylcytosine - 5 hmC) has been implicated in functioning in epigenetic reprogramming, yet no molecular pathway explaining the removal of 5 hm...

Microvesicles (MVs) play an important role in intercellular communication by carrying mRNAs, microRNAs (miRNAs), non-coding RNAs, proteins, and DNA from cell to cell. To our knowledge, this is the first report of delivery of a therapeutic mRNA/protein via MVs for treatment of cancer. We first generated genetically engineered MVs by expressing high levels of the suicide gene mRNA and protein-cyt...