[Antiviral activity of some 5-arylethynyl 2'-deoxyuridine derivatives].

5-(3-Perylenylethynyl)-2'-deoxyuridine was prepared by cross-linking 5-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine derivatives with 3-ethynylperylene followed by deprotection. 5-(1-Perylenylethynyl)-, 5-(3-perylenylethynyl)-, and 5-[4-(2-benzoxazolyl)phenylethynyl]-2'-deoxyuridine were found to inhibit in Vero cells the replication of type 1 herpes simplex virus and its drug-resistant strains.

[Synthesis and fluorescent properties of oligonucleotides, containing a new fluorescent marker--n-(2-benzoxazolyl)tolane].

A functional (dihydroxybutyl) derivative of p-(2-benzoxazolyl)tolane, a fluorescent label novel for biopolymers, was synthesized. The functionalized solid support obtained on its basis was employed in the synthesis of oligodeoxynucleotides 3-terminally labeled with benzoxazolyltolane (these oligonucleotides also contained 1-phenylethynylpyrene residues). This fluorophore within its dihydroxybutyl derivative and the oligonucleotides modified with it displays an intensive fluorescence characterized by a high Stokes shift.

[Synthesis and fluorescent properties of 5-(1-pyrenylethynyl)-2'- deoxyuridine-containing oligodeoxynucleotides].

Novel reagents for the fluorescent labeling of oligo- and polynucleotides have been prepared: 5-(1-pyrenylethynyl)-2'-deoxyuridine 3'-phosphoramidite and a solid support carrying this nucleoside. Oligonucleotides containing one or several modified units have been synthesized, and the fluorescence of these probes has been shown to change upon hybridization with the complementary sequence.

[Fluorescence resonance energy transfer in the study of nucleic acids].

Recent data are reviewed on the employment of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) in studying hybridization and higher structures of nucleic acids as well as their enzyme- and ribozyme-catalyzed reactions.

[Novel reagent for labeling of biomolecules--activated derivative of pyrene dichromophore with excimeric fluorescence].

N-[2-(1-pyrenyl)ethyl]-1-pyrenylacetamide, bis[2-(1-pyrenyl)ethyl]amine, and N,N-bis[2-(1-pyrenyl)ethyl]succinamide were synthesized from 1-pyrenylacetic acid. These compounds contain adjacent pyrene residues and display excimer fluorescence. The latter compound, as a pentafluorophenyl ester, was used to prepare fluorescently labeled oligodeoxyribonucleotide (5)CAGGAAACAGCTATGAC.

[New polymorphic variants of the gene for human blood coagulation factor IX].

The polymorphism of Alu-repeats, which are located in the introns of the human factor IX gene (copies 1-3), was studied. To identify polymorphic variants, direct sequencing of PCR products that contained appropriate repeats was used. In each case, 20 unrelated X chromosomes were studied.

[New site-specific endonucleases from strains of Bacillus].

In a search for new restriction endonucleases type II, among forty bacterial strains of the Bacillus genus two strains producing site-specific endonucleases have been found. Endonucleases BbvAIII and BspFI, isolated from B. brevis BLM B-677 and B.

[Use of the polymerase chain reaction to detect beta-thalassemia mutations in heterozygous carriers from Azerbaijan while performing prenatal DNA-diagnosis].

Prenatal DNA-diagnosis of beta-thalassemia in a family from Azerbaijan revealed two mutations new for this region--G-A transition at codon 15 and G-C transversion at position 5 of the intron 1. Prenatal diagnosis was carried out by direct sequencing of in vitro amplified (PCR) beta-globin gene fragments with a modified Sanger technique using thermostable DNA polymerase. The absence of parents mutations in the fetal DNA allowed us to conclude that the fetus is normal.

[Complex characteristics of the alterations of oncogenes HER-2/ERBB-2, HER-1/ERBB-1, HRAS-1, C-MYC and antioncogenes p53, RB1, as well as deletions of loci of chromosome 17 in colon carcinoma].

Abnormalities of some oncogenes, antioncogenes and losses of heterozygosity (LOH) of chromosome 11p, 17p, and 17q in colorectal carcinomas (CC) was studied. Amplification of ERBB-1/HER-1 oncogene was detected in 2 of 56 cases; ERBB-2/HER-2- in 4 of 62. There was a lack of evidence for C-MYC oncogene amplification (67 cases).

[Artificial DNA splicing using directed ligation].

An approach to the directed genetic recombination in vitro has been devised, which allows for joining, in a predetermined chemical-enzymatic way, a series of DNA segments to give a precisely spliced polynucleotide sequence (DNA Splicing by Directed Ligation, SDL). The approach makes use of amplification, by several polymerase chain reactions (PCR), of the chosen DNA segments. The corresponding primers contain recognition sites of the class IIS restriction endonucleases, yielding protruding ends of unique primary structures.

[Allele polymorphism of the DNA loci MET, D7S8, D7S23, linked to the cystic fibrosis gene in some populations of the USSR, in high risk families and in cystic fibrosis patients].

RELP analysis of DNA loci MET, D7S8 and D7S23 was carried out in Leningrad population and partially in populations of Moscow, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Buryatia as well as in individuals from high risk families and in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients by means of blot hybridization and polymerase chain reaction. Allelic polymorphism of all loci studied in these three groups was found to be quite similar to that in the North-Western Europe and in whites of the North America. Linkage disequilibrium of the alleles studied with the CF gene was especially pronounced for alleles of the D7S23 locus and gradually decreases from KM-19 through CS-7 to XV-2c DNA probes.

[Synthesis of the mature human interleukin-1(alpha) gene by amplification of an mRNA-cDNA duplex in vitro].

Mixture of polyadenylated mRNAs from human monocytes has been subjected to the reverse transcription specifically initiated from the mRNA encoding interleukin 1 alpha by a synthetic polynucleotide complementary to the mRNA's coding 3'-end to yield the corresponding mRNA-cDNA duplex. Under conditions of the polymerase chain reaction, with the above polynucleotide as a downstream primer and an upstream primer corresponding to the beginning of the mature interleukin 1 alpha (AA 113-271) gene, the mRNA-cDNA duplex yielded the desired gene, whose structure was proved by the restriction and sequence analyses. The gene, containing translation initiation and termination triplets, can be used for producing interleukin 1 alpha in various expression systems and as a probe in studies of the lymphokine's biosynthesis.

[Identification of a nature of mutation in the 12th exon of phenylalanine hydroxylase gene in patients with phenylketonuria].

Upon amplification in vitro of the 12th exon area of the human phenylalanine hydroxylase gene followed by allele-specific hybridisation of the amplification product with synthetic probes and its sequencing by the Maxam-Gilbert method, a C----T transition causing phenylketonuria has been identified in Latvian patients.

[Structure of the recombination zone during abnormal excision of the transducing bacteriophage lambda plac9].

Investigating molecular mechanism of illegitimate recombinations in prokaryote we study transducing bacteriophages of the lambda lac series. We have carried out physical mapping of bacteriophage lambda plac9 DNA and, by comparing the obtained results with the data on the structure of lambda DNA and lac operon of E. coli, located the phage-bacterial junction corresponding to the lambda-lac9 abnormal excision and elucidated the nucleotide sequence around the junction.

[Character of two mutations of the beta-globin gene in beta 0-thalassemia in Azerbaijan].

Molecular nature of two beta 0-thalassaemia-causing mutations in beta-globin gene in Azerbaijanian population has been elucidated, viz., C-T transition in 39 codon (nonsense mutation) and previously unknown G deletion in 82/83 codons.

[Synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides in the study of restriction endonuclease MspI].

Interaction of MspI restriction endonuclease with a series of oligodeoxynucleotides, varying in stability of secondary structure and in location of the restriction site, has been studied. It is shown that a functionally active MspI-site must be double-stranded and flanked from both sides. Separate MspI-cleavage of dodecanucleotides dCGACCCGGGATC and dGATCCCGGGTCG is inhibited by the reaction products as well as by non-homological hexanucleotides dGGTACC and dGGATCC (but not by dCGGCGC).