Recently, novel taurine-containing uridine derivatives were discovered in mammalian mitochondrial tRNAs, and these modified ribonucleosides existed at the first position of the anti-codon. This paper describes the chemical synthesis of these novel uridine derivatives, 5-taurinomethyluridine (tau m5U) and 5-taurinomethyl-2-thiouridine (tau m5s2U). These taurine-containing uridine derivatives wer...

Subcomponent exchange transformed new high-spin FeII4L4 cage 1 into previously-reported low-spin FeII4L4 cage 2: 2-formyl-6-methylpyridine was ejected in favor of the less sterically hindered 2-formylpyridine, with concomitant high- to low-spin transition of the cage's FeII centers. High-spin 1 also reacted more readily with electron-rich anilines than 2, enabling the design of a system consist...

Vaccinia poly(A) polymerase (VP55) interacts with > or = 33-nucleotide (nt) primers via uridylates at two sites (-27/-26 and -10). It adds approximately 30-nt poly(A) tails with a rapid, processive burst in which the first few nt are added without substantial primer movement, and addition of the remaining adenylates is dependent upon a six-uridylate tract at the extreme 3' end of the primer and...

(+)-trans-(5r,6r)-5-bromo-6-ethoxy-5-ethyl-5,6-dihydro-2'-deoxyuridine [(5r,6r)-beedu], a po tential brain-targeted prodrug of 5-ethyl-2'-deoxyuridine (edu), was synthesized by the regiospecific addition of broet to the 5,6-olefinic bond of edu. (5r,6r)-beedu is more lipophilic (log p = 0.04) than edu (log p = -1.09). in vitro incubation of (5r,6r)-beedu with rat whole blood and brain...

Active mechanism of DNA demethylation can be responsible for the activation of previously silenced genes. Products of 5-methylcytosine oxidation are released into the bloodstream and eventually excreted with urine. Therefore, whole-body epigenetic status can be assessed non-invasively on the basis of the urinary excretion of a broad spectrum of epigenetic modifications: 5-hydroxymethylcytosine ...