Recognition of the nucleic acid bases within the DNA scaffold comprises the basis for transmission of genetic information, dictating protein and cell assembly, organismal development, and evolution. Driven in part by the need to test our current understanding of this information transfer, chemists have begun to design and synthesize nonnatural bases and base pair structures to mimic the function of DNA without relying on Nature's purine-pyrimidine base pair scaffold. Multiple examples have been recently described that self-assemble stably and sequence specifically in vitro, and some isolated unnatural base pairs can be replicated in vitro as well. Moreover, recent experiments with unnatural bases in bacterial cells have demonstrated surprisingly efficient reading of the chemical information. This suggests the future possibility of redesigning and replacing the chemical information of an evolving cell while retaining biological function.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2693216 | PMC |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chembiol.2008.12.004 | DOI Listing |
Microbiol Spectr
January 2025
Department of Infection Biology, Institute of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
synthesizes aromatic amino acids (AAAs) through the common pathway to produce the precursor, chorismate, and the three terminal pathways to convert chorismate into Phe, Tyr, and Trp. also imports exogenous AAAs through five transporters. GcvB small RNA post-transcriptionally regulates more than 50 genes involved in amino acid uptake and biosynthesis in , but the full extent of GcvB regulon is still underestimated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProg Addit Manuf
July 2024
Empa Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Überlandstrasse 129, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland.
Fast and accurate representation of heat transfer in laser powder-bed fusion of metals (PBF-LB/M) is essential for thermo-mechanical analyses. As an example, it benefits the detection of thermal hotspots at the design stage. While traditional physics-based numerical approaches such as the finite element (FE) method are applicable to a wide variety of problems, they are computationally too expensive for PBF-LB/M due to the space- and time-discretization requirements.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
January 2025
Department of Clinical Genetics, National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Tehran, Iran.
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is an aggressive cancer that is notably associated with a high risk of lymph node metastasis, a major cause of cancer mortality. Current therapeutic options remain limited to surgery supplemented by radio- or chemotherapy; however, these interventions often result in high-grade toxicities. Distant metastasis significantly contributed to the poor prognosis and decreased survival rates.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiochemistry (Mosc)
December 2024
National Research Centre "Kurchatov Institute", Moscow, 123182, Russia.
Bacterial and viral RNA polymerases are promising targets for the development of new transcription inhibitors. One of the potential blockers of RNA synthesis is 7,8-dihydro-8-oxo-1,-ethenoadenine (oxo-εA), a synthetic compound that combines two adenine modifications: 8-oxoadenine and 1,-ethenoadenine. In this study, we synthesized oxo-εA triphosphate (oxo-εATP) and showed that it could be incorporated by the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase of SARS-CoV-2 into synthesized RNA opposite template residues A and G in the presence of Mn ions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Phys Chem B
January 2025
Department of Physics of Complex Systems, S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Block-JD, Sector-III, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700106, India.
In DNA double helices, Hoogsteen (HG) base pairing is an alternative mode of Watson-Crick (WC) base pairing. HG bp has a different hydrogen bonding pattern than WC bp. We investigate here the binding energy of homeodomain proteins with a HG-DNA duplex, where DNA adopts a HG bp in its sequence.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!