1
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Liang Y, Willey S, Chung YC, Lo YM, Miao S, Rundell S, Tu LC, Bong D. Intracellular RNA and DNA tracking by uridine-rich internal loop tagging with fluorogenic bPNA. Nat Commun 2023; 14:2987. [PMID: 37225690 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38579-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2022] [Accepted: 05/05/2023] [Indexed: 05/26/2023] Open
Abstract
The most widely used method for intracellular RNA fluorescence labeling is MS2 labeling, which generally relies on the use of multiple protein labels targeted to multiple RNA (MS2) hairpin structures installed on the RNA of interest (ROI). While effective and conveniently applied in cell biology labs, the protein labels add significant mass to the bound RNA, which potentially impacts steric accessibility and native RNA biology. We have previously demonstrated that internal, genetically encoded, uridine-rich internal loops (URILs) comprised of four contiguous UU pairs (8 nt) in RNA may be targeted with minimal structural perturbation by triplex hybridization with 1 kD bifacial peptide nucleic acids (bPNAs). A URIL-targeting strategy for RNA and DNA tracking would avoid the use of cumbersome protein fusion labels and minimize structural alterations to the RNA of interest. Here we show that URIL-targeting fluorogenic bPNA probes in cell media can penetrate cell membranes and effectively label RNAs and RNPs in fixed and live cells. This method, which we call fluorogenic U-rich internal loop (FLURIL) tagging, was internally validated through the use of RNAs bearing both URIL and MS2 labeling sites. Notably, a direct comparison of CRISPR-dCas labeled genomic loci in live U2OS cells revealed that FLURIL-tagged gRNA yielded loci with signal to background up to 7X greater than loci targeted by guide RNA modified with an array of eight MS2 hairpins. Together, these data show that FLURIL tagging provides a versatile scope of intracellular RNA and DNA tracking while maintaining a light molecular footprint and compatibility with existing methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yufeng Liang
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
- Center for RNA Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Sydney Willey
- Center for RNA Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
- The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Yu-Chieh Chung
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Yi-Meng Lo
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
- Center for RNA Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Shiqin Miao
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
- Center for RNA Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Sarah Rundell
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
- Center for RNA Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Li-Chun Tu
- Center for RNA Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
- The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
| | - Dennis Bong
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
- Center for RNA Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
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2
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Wagh MA, Maity R, Bhosale RJ, Semwal D, Tothadi S, Vaidhyanathan R, Sanjayan GJ. Three in One: Triple G-C-T Base-Coded Brahma Nucleobase Amino Acid: Synthesis, Peptide Formation, and Structural Features. J Org Chem 2021; 86:15689-15694. [PMID: 34623156 DOI: 10.1021/acs.joc.1c01228] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
This note reports the synthesis and peptide formation of a novel triple G-C-T nucleobase amino acid (NBA) building block featuring three recognition faces: DDA (G mimic), DAA (C mimic), and ADA (T mimic). Readily obtainable in multigram scale in a remarkably easy one-step reaction, this unique NBA building block offers scope for wide ranging applications for nucleic acid recognition and nucleic acid peptide/protein interaction studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mahendra A Wagh
- Organic Chemistry Division, CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Dr Homi Bhabha Road Pashan, Pune 411008, India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201 002, India
| | - Rahul Maity
- Department of Chemistry and Centre for Energy Science, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Dr Homi Bhabha Road Pashan, Pune 411008, India
| | - Rohit J Bhosale
- Organic Chemistry Division, CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Dr Homi Bhabha Road Pashan, Pune 411008, India
| | - Divyam Semwal
- Organic Chemistry Division, CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Dr Homi Bhabha Road Pashan, Pune 411008, India
| | - Srinu Tothadi
- Organic Chemistry Division, CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Dr Homi Bhabha Road Pashan, Pune 411008, India
| | - Ramanathan Vaidhyanathan
- Department of Chemistry and Centre for Energy Science, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Dr Homi Bhabha Road Pashan, Pune 411008, India
| | - Gangadhar J Sanjayan
- Organic Chemistry Division, CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Dr Homi Bhabha Road Pashan, Pune 411008, India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201 002, India
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3
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Li J, Li J, Yan Z, Ding XL, Xia XH. Revealing the Hydrogen Bonding Interaction of DNA with Unnatural Bases via Plasmonic Antenna Enhanced Infrared Spectroscopy. J Phys Chem Lett 2021; 12:10255-10261. [PMID: 34652166 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c02901] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The incorporation of unnatural bases in DNA programming can break through the limits of Watson-Crick and Hoogsteen base pairing to expand the diversity of DNA structures. Thus, understanding the interaction between DNA and unnatural bases is of great importance in DNA nanotechnology. Here, we propose an approach of plasmonic antenna enhanced infrared spectroscopy to study the hydrogen bonding interaction between poly(thymine) DNA (poly T DNA) and melamine. The formation of multiple hydrogen bonds between melamine and thymine of poly T DNA is revealed by the appearance of a new infrared (IR) feature of the NH2 deformation vibration at 1680 cm-1. The binding rate constant (kb) and the dissociation rate constant (kd) of the affinity reaction reach 39.70 M-1·s-1 and 4.49 × 10-5 s-1, respectively. This work offers a valuable IR technique to study DNA nanostructures at the molecular level, providing unique physicochemical views of the interaction mechanism between DNA and unnatural bases in DNA programming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jin Li
- State Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
| | - Jian Li
- State Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
| | - Zhendong Yan
- College of Science, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
| | - Xin-Lei Ding
- State Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
| | - Xing-Hua Xia
- State Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
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4
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Journot G, Neier R, Gualandi A. Hydrogenation of Calix[4]pyrrole: From the Formation to the Synthesis of Calix[4]pyrrolidine. European J Org Chem 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/ejoc.202100620] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Reinhard Neier
- Department of Chemistry University of Neuchâtel Avenue Bellevaux 51 2000 Neuchâtel Switzerland
| | - Andrea Gualandi
- Dipartimento di Chimica “G. Ciamician” Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna Via Selmi 2 I-40126 Bologna Italy
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5
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Fialho DM, Karunakaran SC, Greeson KW, Martínez I, Schuster GB, Krishnamurthy R, Hud NV. Depsipeptide Nucleic Acids: Prebiotic Formation, Oligomerization, and Self-Assembly of a New Proto-Nucleic Acid Candidate. J Am Chem Soc 2021; 143:13525-13537. [PMID: 34398608 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.1c02287] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
The mechanism by which informational polymers first formed on the early earth is currently unknown. The RNA world hypothesis implies that RNA oligomers were produced prebiotically, before the emergence of enzymes, but the demonstration of such a process remains challenging. Alternatively, RNA may have been preceded by an earlier ancestral polymer, or proto-RNA, that had a greater propensity for self-assembly than RNA, with the eventual transition to functionally superior RNA being the result of chemical or biological evolution. We report a new class of nucleic acid analog, depsipeptide nucleic acid (DepsiPNA), which displays several properties that are attractive as a candidate for proto-RNA. The monomers of depsipeptide nucleic acids can form under plausibly prebiotic conditions. These monomers oligomerize spontaneously when dried from aqueous solutions to form nucleobase-functionalized depsipeptides. Once formed, these DepsiPNA oligomers are capable of complementary self-assembly and are resistant to hydrolysis in the assembled state. These results suggest that the initial formation of primitive, self-assembling, informational polymers on the early earth may have been relatively facile if the constraints of an RNA-first scenario are relaxed.
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Affiliation(s)
- David M Fialho
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
| | - Suneesh C Karunakaran
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
| | - Katherine W Greeson
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
| | - Isaac Martínez
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
| | - Gary B Schuster
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
| | - Ramanarayanan Krishnamurthy
- NSF-NASA Center for Chemical Evolution, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States.,Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California 92037, United States
| | - Nicholas V Hud
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States.,NSF-NASA Center for Chemical Evolution, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
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6
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Access to azolopyrimidine-6,7-diamines as a valuable “building-blocks” to develop new fused heteroaromatic systems. Tetrahedron 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tet.2021.132172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
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7
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Miao S, Liang Y, Rundell S, Bhunia D, Devari S, Munyaradzi O, Bong D. Unnatural bases for recognition of noncoding nucleic acid interfaces. Biopolymers 2021; 112:e23399. [PMID: 32969496 PMCID: PMC7855516 DOI: 10.1002/bip.23399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2020] [Revised: 08/14/2020] [Accepted: 08/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
The notion of using synthetic heterocycles instead of the native bases to interface with DNA and RNA has been explored for nearly 60 years. Unnatural bases compatible with the DNA/RNA coding interface have the potential to expand the genetic code and co-opt the machinery of biology to access new macromolecular function; accordingly, this body of research is core to synthetic biology. While much of the literature on artificial bases focuses on code expansion, there is a significant and growing effort on docking synthetic heterocycles to noncoding nucleic acid interfaces; this approach seeks to illuminate major processes of nucleic acids, including regulation of transcription, translation, transport, and transcript lifetimes. These major avenues of research at the coding and noncoding interfaces have in common fundamental principles in molecular recognition. Herein, we provide an overview of foundational literature in biophysics of base recognition and unnatural bases in coding to provide context for the developing area of targeting noncoding nucleic acid interfaces with synthetic bases, with a focus on systems developed through iterative design and biophysical study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiqin Miao
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
| | - Yufeng Liang
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
| | - Sarah Rundell
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
| | - Debmalya Bhunia
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
| | - Shekar Devari
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
| | - Oliver Munyaradzi
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
| | - Dennis Bong
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
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8
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Muramatsu W, Manthena C, Nakashima E, Yamamoto H. Peptide Bond-Forming Reaction via Amino Acid Silyl Esters: New Catalytic Reactivity of an Aminosilane. ACS Catal 2020. [DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.0c02512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Wataru Muramatsu
- Molecular Catalyst Research Center, Chubu University, 1200 Matsumoto-cho, Kasugai, Aichi 487-8501, Japan
| | - Chaitanya Manthena
- Molecular Catalyst Research Center, Chubu University, 1200 Matsumoto-cho, Kasugai, Aichi 487-8501, Japan
| | - Erika Nakashima
- Molecular Catalyst Research Center, Chubu University, 1200 Matsumoto-cho, Kasugai, Aichi 487-8501, Japan
| | - Hisashi Yamamoto
- Molecular Catalyst Research Center, Chubu University, 1200 Matsumoto-cho, Kasugai, Aichi 487-8501, Japan
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9
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Frenkel-Pinter M, Samanta M, Ashkenasy G, Leman LJ. Prebiotic Peptides: Molecular Hubs in the Origin of Life. Chem Rev 2020; 120:4707-4765. [PMID: 32101414 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.9b00664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 148] [Impact Index Per Article: 37.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The fundamental roles that peptides and proteins play in today's biology makes it almost indisputable that peptides were key players in the origin of life. Insofar as it is appropriate to extrapolate back from extant biology to the prebiotic world, one must acknowledge the critical importance that interconnected molecular networks, likely with peptides as key components, would have played in life's origin. In this review, we summarize chemical processes involving peptides that could have contributed to early chemical evolution, with an emphasis on molecular interactions between peptides and other classes of organic molecules. We first summarize mechanisms by which amino acids and similar building blocks could have been produced and elaborated into proto-peptides. Next, non-covalent interactions of peptides with other peptides as well as with nucleic acids, lipids, carbohydrates, metal ions, and aromatic molecules are discussed in relation to the possible roles of such interactions in chemical evolution of structure and function. Finally, we describe research involving structural alternatives to peptides and covalent adducts between amino acids/peptides and other classes of molecules. We propose that ample future breakthroughs in origin-of-life chemistry will stem from investigations of interconnected chemical systems in which synergistic interactions between different classes of molecules emerge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Moran Frenkel-Pinter
- NSF/NASA Center for Chemical Evolution, https://centerforchemicalevolution.com/.,School of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
| | - Mousumi Samanta
- Department of Chemistry, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel
| | - Gonen Ashkenasy
- Department of Chemistry, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel
| | - Luke J Leman
- NSF/NASA Center for Chemical Evolution, https://centerforchemicalevolution.com/.,Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California 92037, United States
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10
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Abstract
The chemistry of abiotic nucleotide synthesis of RNA and DNA in the context of their prebiotic origins on early earth is a continuing challenge. How did (or how can) the nucleotides form and assemble from the small molecule inventories and under conditions that prevailed on early earth 3.5-4 billion years ago? This review provides a background and up-to-date progress that will allow the reader to judge where the field stands currently and what remains to be achieved. We start with a brief primer on the biological synthesis of nucleotides, followed by an extensive focus on the prebiotic formation of the components of nucleotides-either via the synthesis of ribose and the canonical nucleobases and then joining them together or by building both the conjoined sugar and nucleobase, part-by-part-toward the ultimate goal of forming RNA and DNA by polymerization. The review will emphasize that there are-and will continue to be-many more questions than answers from the synthetic, mechanistic, and analytical perspectives. We wrap up the review with a cautionary note in this context about coming to conclusions as to whether the problem of chemistry of prebiotic nucleotide synthesis has been solved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mahipal Yadav
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037, United States.,NSF-NASA Center for Chemical Evolution, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
| | - Ravi Kumar
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037, United States.,NSF-NASA Center for Chemical Evolution, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
| | - Ramanarayanan Krishnamurthy
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037, United States.,NSF-NASA Center for Chemical Evolution, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
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11
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Ruíz-Pérez KM, Quiroz-García B, Hernández-Rodríguez M. Prolinamides of Aminouracils, Organocatalyst Modifiable by Complementary Modules. European J Org Chem 2018. [DOI: 10.1002/ejoc.201800886] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Karen M. Ruíz-Pérez
- Instituto de Química; Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Circuito Exterior; Ciudad Universitaria, Del. Coyoacán, C.P. 04510 México Cd. Mx. México
| | - Beatriz Quiroz-García
- Instituto de Química; Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Circuito Exterior; Ciudad Universitaria, Del. Coyoacán, C.P. 04510 México Cd. Mx. México
| | - Marcos Hernández-Rodríguez
- Instituto de Química; Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Circuito Exterior; Ciudad Universitaria, Del. Coyoacán, C.P. 04510 México Cd. Mx. México
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12
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Szabla R, Góra RW, Šponer J. Ultrafast excited-state dynamics of isocytosine. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2018; 18:20208-18. [PMID: 27346684 DOI: 10.1039/c6cp01391k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
The alternative nucleobase isocytosine has long been considered as a plausible component of hypothetical primordial informational polymers. To examine this hypothesis we investigated the excited-state dynamics of the two most abundant forms of isocytosine in the gas phase (keto and enol). Our surface-hopping nonadiabatic molecular dynamics simulations employing the algebraic diagrammatic construction to the second order [ADC(2)] method for the electronic structure calculations suggest that both tautomers undergo efficient radiationless deactivation to the electronic ground state with time constants which amount to τketo = 182 fs and τenol = 533 fs. The dominant photorelaxation pathways correspond to ring-puckering (ππ* surface) and C[double bond, length as m-dash]O stretching/N-H tilting (nπ* surface) for the enol and keto forms respectively. Based on these findings, we infer that isocytosine is a relatively photostable compound in the gas phase and in these terms resembles biologically relevant nucleobases. The estimated S1 [radiolysis arrow - arrow with voltage kink] T1 intersystem crossing rate constant of 8.02 × 10(10) s(-1) suggests that triplet states might also play an important role in the overall excited-state dynamics of the keto tautomer. The reliability of ADC(2)-based surface-hopping molecular dynamics simulations was tested against multireference quantum-chemical calculations and the potential limitations of the employed ADC(2) approach are briefly discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rafał Szabla
- Institute of Biophysics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Královopolská 135, 61265, Brno, Czech Republic.
| | - Robert W Góra
- Department of Physical and Quantum Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Wrocław University of Technology, Wybrzeże Wyspiańskiego 27, 50-370 Wrocław, Poland.
| | - Jiří Šponer
- Institute of Biophysics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Královopolská 135, 61265, Brno, Czech Republic. and CEITEC-Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Campus Bohunice, Kamenice 5, CZ-62500 Brno, Czech Republic
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13
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Paragi G, Kupihár Z, Endre G, Fonseca Guerra C, Kovács L. The evaluation of 5-amino- and 5-hydroxyuracil derivatives as potential quadruplex-forming agents. Org Biomol Chem 2018; 15:2174-2184. [PMID: 28054065 DOI: 10.1039/c6ob02574a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
5-Substituted uracils (NH2 or OH groups in position 5) have been examined theoretically and experimentally as potential building blocks in quadruplex structures. Our high level Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations showed that the tetramer formation and stacking energies for 5-substituted uracils are similar to the energies of purine-based xanthine (X) or guanine (G) structures. As tetrads of 5-substituted uracils cover almost exactly the same area as purine tetrads, mixed tetrads or quadruplex structures based on X or G and 5-substituted uracil motifs are possible. According to the calculations, 5-hydroxyuracil-based structures are the best candidates for experimental implementation which was corroborated by the existence of higher complexes in the mass spectra of 1-benzyl-5-hydroxyuracil. These pyrimidine-based molecules can be used as efficient building blocks in different applications including aptamers, bio-sensors or - taking into account the larger cavity in the central region of 5-hydroxyuracil structures - as an artificial ion channel.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gábor Paragi
- Department of Theoretical Chemistry and Amsterdam Center for Multiscale Modeling, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU), De Boelelaan 1083, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands. and MTA-SZTE Supramolecular and Nanostructured Materials Research Group, University of Szeged, Dóm tér 8, 6720 Szeged, Hungary
| | - Zoltán Kupihár
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Szeged, Dóm tér 8, 6720 Szeged, Hungary.
| | - Gábor Endre
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Szeged, Dóm tér 8, 6720 Szeged, Hungary.
| | - Célia Fonseca Guerra
- Department of Theoretical Chemistry and Amsterdam Center for Multiscale Modeling, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU), De Boelelaan 1083, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - Lajos Kovács
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Szeged, Dóm tér 8, 6720 Szeged, Hungary.
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14
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Beierle JM, Ura Y, Ghadiri MR, Leman LJ. Templated Self-Assembly of Dynamic Peptide Nucleic Acids. Biochemistry 2017; 57:160-172. [PMID: 28832127 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.7b00656] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Template-directed macromolecule synthesis is a hallmark of living systems. Inspired by this natural process, several fundamentally novel mechanisms for template-directed assembly of nucleic acid analogues have been developed. Although these approaches have broad significance, including potential applications in biotechnology and implications for the origins of life, there are unresolved challenges in how to characterize in detail the complex assembly equilibria associated with dynamic templated reactions. Here we describe mechanistic studies of template-directed dynamic assembly for thioester peptide nucleic acid (tPNA), an informational polymer that responds to selection pressures under enzyme-free conditions. To overcome some of the inherent challenges of mechanistic studies of dynamic oligomers, we designed, synthesized, and implemented tPNA-DNA conjugates. The DNA primer region affords a high level of control over the location and register of the tPNA backbone in relation to the template strand. We characterized the degree and kinetics of dynamic nucleobase mismatch correction at defined backbone positions. Furthermore, we report the fidelity of dynamic assembly in tPNA as a function of position along the peptide backbone. Finally, we present theoretical studies that explore the level of fidelity that can be expected for an oligomer having a given hybridization affinity in dynamic templated reactions and provide guidance for the future development of sequence self-editing polymers and materials. As our results demonstrate, the use of molecular conjugates of constitutionally static and dynamic polymers establishes a new methodology for expediting the characterization of the complex chemical equilibria that underlie the assembly of dynamic informational polymers.
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Affiliation(s)
- John M Beierle
- Department of Chemistry and The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, The Scripps Research Institute , 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037, United States
| | - Yasuyuki Ura
- Department of Chemistry and The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, The Scripps Research Institute , 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037, United States
| | - M Reza Ghadiri
- Department of Chemistry and The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, The Scripps Research Institute , 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037, United States
| | - Luke J Leman
- Department of Chemistry and The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, The Scripps Research Institute , 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037, United States
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15
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Kim EK, Martin V, Krishnamurthy R. Orotidine-Containing RNA: Implications for the Hierarchical Selection (Systems Chemistry Emergence) of RNA. Chemistry 2017; 23:12668-12675. [PMID: 28708927 DOI: 10.1002/chem.201702912] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2017] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
The prebiotic synthesis of canonical nucleobases from HCN is a cornerstone for the RNA world hypothesis. However, their role in the primordial pathways to RNA is still debated. The very same process starting from HCN also gives rise to orotic acid, which (via orotidine) plays a crucial role in extant biology in the de novo synthesis of uridine and cytidine, the informational base-pairs in RNA. However, orotidine itself is absent in RNA. Given the prebiotic and biological relevance of orotic acid vis-à-vis uracil, we investigated orotidine-containing RNA oligonucleotides and show that they have severely compromised base-pairing properties. While not unexpected, these results suggest that the emergence of extant RNA cannot just be a consequence of the plausible prebiotic formation of its chemical constituents/building blocks. In combination with other investigations on alternative prebiotic nucleobases, sugars, and linkers, these findings imply that the selection of the components of extant RNA occurred at a higher hierarchical level of an oligomer/polymer based on its functional properties-pointing to a systems chemistry emergence of RNA from a library of precursors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eun-Kyong Kim
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550, North Torrey Pines Rd, La Jolla, Ca, 92037, USA
| | - Vincent Martin
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550, North Torrey Pines Rd, La Jolla, Ca, 92037, USA
| | - Ramanarayanan Krishnamurthy
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550, North Torrey Pines Rd, La Jolla, Ca, 92037, USA
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16
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Zhang Y, Beckstead AA, Hu Y, Piao X, Bong D, Kohler B. Excited-State Dynamics of Melamine and Its Lysine Derivative Investigated by Femtosecond Transient Absorption Spectroscopy. Molecules 2016; 21:molecules21121645. [PMID: 27916910 PMCID: PMC5489438 DOI: 10.3390/molecules21121645] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2016] [Revised: 11/24/2016] [Accepted: 11/24/2016] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Melamine may have been an important prebiotic information carrier, but its excited-state dynamics, which determine its stability under UV radiation, have never been characterized. The ability of melamine to withstand the strong UV radiation present on the surface of the early Earth is likely to have affected its abundance in the primordial soup. Here, we studied the excited-state dynamics of melamine (a proto-nucleobase) and its lysine derivative (a proto-nucleoside) using the transient absorption technique with a UV pump, and UV and infrared probe pulses. For melamine, the excited-state population decays by internal conversion with a lifetime of 13 ps without coupling significantly to any photochemical channels. The excited-state lifetime of the lysine derivative is slightly longer (18 ps), but the dominant deactivation pathway is otherwise the same as for melamine. In both cases, the vast majority of excited molecules return to the electronic ground state on the aforementioned time scales, but a minor population is trapped in a long-lived triplet state.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuyuan Zhang
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA.
| | - Ashley A Beckstead
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA.
| | - Yuesong Hu
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA.
| | - Xijun Piao
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The Ohio State University, 100 West 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
| | - Dennis Bong
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The Ohio State University, 100 West 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
| | - Bern Kohler
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA.
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The Ohio State University, 100 West 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
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17
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Stross AE, Iadevaia G, Hunter CA. Mix and match recognition modules for the formation of H-bonded duplexes. Chem Sci 2016; 7:5686-5691. [PMID: 30034707 PMCID: PMC6022071 DOI: 10.1039/c6sc01884j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2016] [Accepted: 05/24/2016] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Oligomeric molecules equipped with complementary H-bond recognition sites form stable duplexes in non-polar solvents. The use of a single H-bond between a good H-bond donor and a good H-bond acceptor as the recognition motif appended to a non-polar backbone leads to an architecture with interchangeable recognition alphabets. The interactions of three different families of H-bond acceptor oligomers (pyridine, pyridine N-oxide or phosphine oxide recognition module) with a family of H-bond donor oligomers (phenol recognition module) are compared. All three donor-acceptor combinations form stable duplexes, where the stability of the 1 : 1 complex increases with increasing numbers of recognition modules. The effective molarity for formation of intramolecular H-bonds that lead to zipping up of the duplex (EM) increases with decreasing flexibility of the recognition modules: 14 mM for the phosphine oxides which are connected to the backbone via a flexible linker; 40 mM for the pyridine N-oxides which have three fewer degrees of torsional freedom, and 80 mM for the pyridines where the geometry of the H-bond is more directional. However, the pyridine-phenol H-bond is an order of magnitude weaker than the other two types of H-bond, so overall the pyridine N-oxides form the most stable duplexes with the highest degree of cooperativity. The results show that it is possible to use different recognition motifs with the same duplex architecture, and this makes it possible to tune overall stabilities of the complexes by varying the components.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander E Stross
- Department of Chemistry , University of Cambridge , Lensfield Road , Cambridge CB2 1EW , UK .
| | - Giulia Iadevaia
- Department of Chemistry , University of Cambridge , Lensfield Road , Cambridge CB2 1EW , UK .
| | - Christopher A Hunter
- Department of Chemistry , University of Cambridge , Lensfield Road , Cambridge CB2 1EW , UK .
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18
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Iadevaia G, Stross AE, Neumann A, Hunter CA. Mix and match backbones for the formation of H-bonded duplexes. Chem Sci 2016; 7:1760-1767. [PMID: 28936325 PMCID: PMC5592378 DOI: 10.1039/c5sc04467g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2015] [Accepted: 12/18/2015] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The formation of well-defined supramolecular assemblies involves competition between intermolecular and intramolecular interactions, which is quantified by effective molarity. Formation of a duplex between two oligomers equipped with recognition sites displayed along a non-interacting backbone requires that once one intermolecular interaction has been formed, all subsequent interactions take place in an intramolecular sense. The efficiency of this process is governed by the geometric complementarity and conformational flexibility of the backbone linking the recognition sites. Here we report a series of phosphine oxide H-bond acceptor AA 2-mers and phenol H-bond donor DD 2-mers, where the two recognition sites are connected by isomeric backbone modules that vary in geometry and flexibility. All AA and DD combinations form stable AA·DD duplexes, where two cooperative H-bonds lead to an increase in stability of an order of magnitude compared with the corresponding A·D complexes that can only form one H-bond. For all six possible backbone combinations, the effective molarity for duplex formation is approximately constant (7-20 mM). Thus strict complementarity and high degrees of preorganisation are not required for efficient supramolecular assembly. Provided there is some flexibility, quite different backbone modules can be used interchangeably to construct stable H-bonded duplexes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Iadevaia
- Department of Chemistry , University of Cambridge , Lensfield Road , Cambridge CB2 1EW , UK .
| | - Alexander E Stross
- Department of Chemistry , University of Cambridge , Lensfield Road , Cambridge CB2 1EW , UK .
| | - Anja Neumann
- Department of Chemistry , University of Sheffield , Sheffield S3 7HF , UK
| | - Christopher A Hunter
- Department of Chemistry , University of Cambridge , Lensfield Road , Cambridge CB2 1EW , UK .
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19
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Stross AE, Iadevaia G, Hunter CA. Cooperative duplex formation by synthetic H-bonding oligomers. Chem Sci 2015; 7:94-101. [PMID: 29861969 PMCID: PMC5950798 DOI: 10.1039/c5sc03414k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2015] [Accepted: 10/15/2015] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Flexible phenol-phosphine oxide oligomers show promise as a new class of synthetic information molecule.
A series of flexible oligomers equipped with phenol H-bond donors and phosphine oxide H-bond acceptors have been synthesised using reductive amination chemistry. H-bonding interactions between complementary oligomers leads to the formation of double-stranded complexes which were characterised using NMR titrations and thermal denaturation experiments. The stability of the duplex increases by one order of magnitude for every H-bonding group added to the chain. Similarly, the enthalpy change for duplex assembly and the melting temperature for duplex denaturation both increase with increasing chain length. These observations indicate that H-bond formation along the oligomers is cooperative despite the flexible backbone, and the effective molarity for intramolecular H-bond formation (14 mM) is sufficient to propagate the formation of longer duplexes using this approach. The product K EM, which is used to quantify chelate cooperativity is 5, which means that each H-bond is more than 80% populated in the assembled duplex. The modular design of these oligomers represents a general strategy for the design of synthetic information molecules that could potentially encode and replicate chemical information in the same way as nucleic acids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander E Stross
- Department of Chemistry , University of Cambridge , Lensfield Road , Cambridge CB2 1EW , UK .
| | - Giulia Iadevaia
- Department of Chemistry , University of Cambridge , Lensfield Road , Cambridge CB2 1EW , UK .
| | - Christopher A Hunter
- Department of Chemistry , University of Cambridge , Lensfield Road , Cambridge CB2 1EW , UK .
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20
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Diez-Martinez A, Kim EK, Krishnamurthy R. Hydrogen-Bonding Complexes of 5-Azauracil and Uracil Derivatives in Organic Medium. J Org Chem 2015; 80:7066-75. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.joc.5b00911] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Alba Diez-Martinez
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037, United States
| | - Eun-Kyong Kim
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037, United States
| | - Ramanarayanan Krishnamurthy
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037, United States
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21
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Cafferty BJ, Hud NV. Was a Pyrimidine-Pyrimidine Base Pair the Ancestor of Watson-Crick Base Pairs? Insights from a Systematic Approach to the Origin of RNA. Isr J Chem 2015. [DOI: 10.1002/ijch.201400206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
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22
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23
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Francis BR. The Hypothesis that the Genetic Code Originated in Coupled Synthesis of Proteins and the Evolutionary Predecessors of Nucleic Acids in Primitive Cells. Life (Basel) 2015; 5:467-505. [PMID: 25679748 PMCID: PMC4390864 DOI: 10.3390/life5010467] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2014] [Accepted: 02/02/2015] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Although analysis of the genetic code has allowed explanations for its evolution to be proposed, little evidence exists in biochemistry and molecular biology to offer an explanation for the origin of the genetic code. In particular, two features of biology make the origin of the genetic code difficult to understand. First, nucleic acids are highly complicated polymers requiring numerous enzymes for biosynthesis. Secondly, proteins have a simple backbone with a set of 20 different amino acid side chains synthesized by a highly complicated ribosomal process in which mRNA sequences are read in triplets. Apparently, both nucleic acid and protein syntheses have extensive evolutionary histories. Supporting these processes is a complex metabolism and at the hub of metabolism are the carboxylic acid cycles. This paper advances the hypothesis that the earliest predecessor of the nucleic acids was a β-linked polyester made from malic acid, a highly conserved metabolite in the carboxylic acid cycles. In the β-linked polyester, the side chains are carboxylic acid groups capable of forming interstrand double hydrogen bonds. Evolution of the nucleic acids involved changes to the backbone and side chain of poly(β-d-malic acid). Conversion of the side chain carboxylic acid into a carboxamide or a longer side chain bearing a carboxamide group, allowed information polymers to form amide pairs between polyester chains. Aminoacylation of the hydroxyl groups of malic acid and its derivatives with simple amino acids such as glycine and alanine allowed coupling of polyester synthesis and protein synthesis. Use of polypeptides containing glycine and l-alanine for activation of two different monomers with either glycine or l-alanine allowed simple coded autocatalytic synthesis of polyesters and polypeptides and established the first genetic code. A primitive cell capable of supporting electron transport, thioester synthesis, reduction reactions, and synthesis of polyesters and polypeptides is proposed. The cell consists of an iron-sulfide particle enclosed by tholin, a heterogeneous organic material that is produced by Miller-Urey type experiments that simulate conditions on the early Earth. As the synthesis of nucleic acids evolved from β-linked polyesters, the singlet coding system for replication evolved into a four nucleotide/four amino acid process (AMP = aspartic acid, GMP = glycine, UMP = valine, CMP = alanine) and then into the triplet ribosomal process that permitted multiple copies of protein to be synthesized independent of replication. This hypothesis reconciles the “genetics first” and “metabolism first” approaches to the origin of life and explains why there are four bases in the genetic alphabet.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian R Francis
- Department of Molecular Biology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA.
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24
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Kovaliov M, Weitman M, Major DT, Fischer B. Phenyl-imidazolo-cytidine Analogues: Structure–Photophysical Activity Relationship and Ability To Detect Single DNA Mismatch. J Org Chem 2014; 79:7051-62. [DOI: 10.1021/jo5011944] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Marina Kovaliov
- Department of Chemistry,
Gonda-Goldschmied Medical Research Center and the Lise-Meitner-Minerva
Center of Computational Quantum Chemistry, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel
| | - Michal Weitman
- Department of Chemistry,
Gonda-Goldschmied Medical Research Center and the Lise-Meitner-Minerva
Center of Computational Quantum Chemistry, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel
| | - Dan Thomas Major
- Department of Chemistry,
Gonda-Goldschmied Medical Research Center and the Lise-Meitner-Minerva
Center of Computational Quantum Chemistry, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel
| | - Bilha Fischer
- Department of Chemistry,
Gonda-Goldschmied Medical Research Center and the Lise-Meitner-Minerva
Center of Computational Quantum Chemistry, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel
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25
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Xia X, Piao X, Bong D. Bifacial peptide nucleic acid as an allosteric switch for aptamer and ribozyme function. J Am Chem Soc 2014; 136:7265-8. [PMID: 24796374 DOI: 10.1021/ja5032584] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
We demonstrate herein that bifacial peptide nucleic acid (bPNA) hybrid triplexes functionally substitute for duplex DNA or RNA. Structure-function loss in three non-coding nucleic acids was inflicted by replacement of a duplex stem with unstructured oligo-T/U strands, which are bPNA binding sites. Functional rescue was observed on refolding of the oligo-T/U strands into bPNA triplex hybrid stems. Bifacial PNA binding was thus used to allosterically switch-on protein and small-molecule binding in DNA and RNA aptamers, as well as catalytic bond scission in a ribozyme. Duplex stems that support the catalytic site of a minimal type I hammerhead ribozyme were replaced with oligo-U loops, severely crippling or ablating the native RNA splicing function. Refolding of the U-loops into bPNA triplex stems completely restored splicing function in the hybrid system. These studies indicate that bPNA may have general utility as an allosteric trigger for a wide range of functions in non-coding nucleic acids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin Xia
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The Ohio State University , 100 West 18th Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43210, United States
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26
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Xia X, Piao X, Bong D. Bifacial PNA complexation inhibits enzymatic access to DNA and RNA. Chembiochem 2014; 15:31-6. [PMID: 24259287 PMCID: PMC3896088 DOI: 10.1002/cbic.201300536] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2013] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
FULL STOP: Herein we report the effective in vitro inhibition of transcription, reverse-transcription and exonuclease function by formation of synthetic bPNA-nucleic acid triplex structures. Selective bPNA targeting of both DNA and RNA substrates suggests possible application of bPNAs as synthetic regulators of nucleic acid function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin Xia
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The Ohio State University, 100 W. 18 Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210 (USA)
| | - Xijun Piao
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The Ohio State University, 100 W. 18 Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210 (USA)
| | - Dennis Bong
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The Ohio State University, 100 W. 18 Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210 (USA)
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27
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Ruiz-Mirazo K, Briones C, de la Escosura A. Prebiotic Systems Chemistry: New Perspectives for the Origins of Life. Chem Rev 2013; 114:285-366. [DOI: 10.1021/cr2004844] [Citation(s) in RCA: 563] [Impact Index Per Article: 51.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Kepa Ruiz-Mirazo
- Biophysics
Unit (CSIC-UPV/EHU), Leioa, and Department of Logic and Philosophy
of Science, University of the Basque Country, Avenida de Tolosa 70, 20080 Donostia−San Sebastián, Spain
| | - Carlos Briones
- Department
of Molecular Evolution, Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC−INTA, associated to the NASA Astrobiology Institute), Carretera de Ajalvir, Km 4, 28850 Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain
| | - Andrés de la Escosura
- Organic
Chemistry Department, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain
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28
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Hud NV, Cafferty BJ, Krishnamurthy R, Williams LD. The origin of RNA and "my grandfather's axe". ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2013; 20:466-74. [PMID: 23601635 DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2013.03.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 146] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2012] [Revised: 03/20/2013] [Accepted: 03/22/2013] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
The origin of RNA is one of the most formidable problems facing prebiotic chemists. We consider RNA as a product of evolution, as opposed to the more conventional view of RNA as originally being the product of abiotic processes. We have come to accept that life's informational polymers have changed in chemical structure since their emergence, which presents a quandary similar to the paradox of "My Grandfather's Axe". Here, we discuss reasons why all contemporary components of RNA--the nucleobases, ribose, and phosphate--are not likely the original components of the first informational polymer(s) of life. We also evaluate three distinct models put forth as pathways for how the earliest informational polymers might have assembled. We see the quest to uncover the ancestors of RNA as an exciting scientific journey, one that is already providing additional chemical constraints on the origin of life and one that has the potential to produce self-assembling materials, novel catalysis, and bioactive compounds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas V Hud
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA.
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29
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Piao X, Xia X, Bong D. Bifacial peptide nucleic acid directs cooperative folding and assembly of binary, ternary, and quaternary DNA complexes. Biochemistry 2013; 52:6313-23. [PMID: 23964711 DOI: 10.1021/bi4008963] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
We report herein the structuring of single-stranded thymine-rich DNA sequences into peptide-DNA hairpin triplex structures via designed melamine-thymine nucleobase recognition. Melamine-displaying α-peptides were synthesized with the general form (EM*)n, where M* denotes a lysine residue side chain derivatized with melamine, a bifacial hydrogen bond complement for thymine. We have found that (EM*)n peptides, which we term bifacial peptide nucleic acid (bPNA), function as a noncovalent template for thymine-rich DNA tracts. Unstructured DNA of the general form dTnCmTn are bound to (EM*)n peptides and fold into cooperatively melting 1:1 bPNA-DNA hairpin complexes with dissociation constants in the submicromolar to low nanomolar range for n = 4-10. As the length of the interface (n) is decreased, the melting temperature of the bPNA-DNA complex drops significantly, though Kd increases are less substantial, suggestive of strong enthalpy-entropy compensation. This is borne out by differential scanning calorimetry analysis, which indicates enthalpically driven bPNA-DNA base-stacking that becomes markedly less exothermic as the recognition surface n decreases in size. The recognition interface tolerates a high number of "mismatches" and indicates half-site, or monofacial, recognition between melamine and thymine may occur if only 1 complementary nucleobase is available. Association correlates directly with fractional thymine content, with optimal binding when the number of T-T sites match the number of melamine units. Interestingly, when a DNA host has more T-T sites than melamine sites on bPNA, two or three bPNAs can bind to a single DNA, resulting in ternary and quaternary complexes that have higher thermal stability than the binary (1:1) bPNA-DNA complex, suggestive of cooperative multisite binding. In contrast, when two bPNAs of different lengths bind to the same DNA host, a ternary complex is formed with two melting transitions, corresponding to independent melting of each bPNA component from the complex. These data demonstrate that melamine-displaying bPNA recognize thymine-rich DNA in predictable and multifaceted ways that allow binding affinity, structure stability, and stoichiometry to be tuned through simple bPNA length modification and matching with DNA length. Synthetic bPNA structuring elements may be useful tools for biotechnology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xijun Piao
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The Ohio State University , 100 West 18th Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43210, United States
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30
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Karri P, Punna V, Kim K, Krishnamurthy R. Base-Pairing Properties of a Structural Isomer of Glycerol Nucleic Acid. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2013; 52:5840-4. [DOI: 10.1002/anie.201300795] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2013] [Revised: 03/19/2013] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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31
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Karri P, Punna V, Kim K, Krishnamurthy R. Base-Pairing Properties of a Structural Isomer of Glycerol Nucleic Acid. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2013. [DOI: 10.1002/ange.201300795] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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32
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Krishnamurthy R. Role of pK(a) of nucleobases in the origins of chemical evolution. Acc Chem Res 2012; 45:2035-44. [PMID: 22533519 PMCID: PMC3525050 DOI: 10.1021/ar200262x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 88] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2011] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The formation of canonical base pairs through Watson-Crick hydrogen bonding sits at the heart of the genetic apparatus. The specificity of the base pairing of adenine with thymine/uracil and guanine with cytosine preserves accurate information for the biochemical blueprint and replicates the instructions necessary for carrying out biological function. The chemical evolution question of how these five canonical nucleobases were selected over various other possibilities remains intriguing. Since these and alternative nucleobases would have been available for chemical evolution, the reasons for the emergence of this system appear to be primarily functional. While investigating the base-pairing properties of structural nucleic acid analogs, we encountered a relationship between the pK(a) of a series of nonstandard (and canonical) nucleobases and the pH of the aqueous medium. This relationship appeared to correspond with the propensity of these molecules to self-assemble via Watson-Crick-type base-pairing interactions. A simple correlation of the "magnitude of the difference between the pK(a) and pH" (pK(a)-pH correlation) enables a general prediction of which types of heterocyclic recognition elements form hydrogen-bonded base pairs in aqueous media. Using the pK(a)-pH relationship, we can rationalize why nature chose the canonical nucleobases in terms of hydrophobic and hydrophilic interactions, and further extrapolate its significance within the context of chemical evolution. The connection between the physicochemical properties of bioorganic compounds and the interactions with their aqueous environment directly affects structure and function, at both a molecular and a supramolecular level. A general structure-function pattern emerges in biomolecules and biopolymers in aqueous media near neutral pH. A pK(a) - pH < 2 generally prompts catalytic functions, central to metabolism, but a difference in pK(a) - pH > 2 seems to result in the emergence of structure, central to replication. While this general trend is observed throughout extant biology, it could have also been an important factor in chemical evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ramanarayanan Krishnamurthy
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037, USA
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33
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Kuruvilla E, Schuster GB, Hud NV. Enhanced nonenzymatic ligation of homopurine miniduplexes: support for greater base stacking in a pre-RNA world. Chembiochem 2012; 14:45-8. [PMID: 23225671 DOI: 10.1002/cbic.201200601] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2012] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
The ancestors of RNA? There is a long-standing proposal that contemporary nucleic acids might have evolved from RNA-like polymers that utilized only purine-purine base pairs. Here we demonstrate the great advantage that increased nucleobase stacking area provides for nonenzymatic ligation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth Kuruvilla
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0400, USA
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34
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Abstract
The general notion of an "RNA World" is that, in the early development of life on the Earth, genetic continuity was assured by the replication of RNA and genetically encoded proteins were not involved as catalysts. There is now strong evidence indicating that an RNA World did indeed exist before DNA- and protein-based life. However, arguments regarding whether life on Earth began with RNA are more tenuous. It might be imagined that all of the components of RNA were available in some prebiotic pool, and that these components assembled into replicating, evolving polynucleotides without the prior existence of any evolved macromolecules. A thorough consideration of this "RNA-first" view of the origin of life must reconcile concerns regarding the intractable mixtures that are obtained in experiments designed to simulate the chemistry of the primitive Earth. Perhaps these concerns will eventually be resolved, and recent experimental findings provide some reason for optimism. However, the problem of the origin of the RNA World is far from being solved, and it is fruitful to consider the alternative possibility that RNA was preceded by some other replicating, evolving molecule, just as DNA and proteins were preceded by RNA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael P Robertson
- Departments of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California 92037, USA
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35
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36
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Zeng Y, Pratumyot Y, Piao X, Bong D. Discrete Assembly of Synthetic Peptide–DNA Triplex Structures from Polyvalent Melamine–Thymine Bifacial Recognition. J Am Chem Soc 2011; 134:832-5. [PMID: 22201288 DOI: 10.1021/ja2099326] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yingying Zeng
- Department of Chemistry, The Ohio State University, 100 West 18th Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43210,
United States
| | - Yaowalak Pratumyot
- Department of Chemistry, The Ohio State University, 100 West 18th Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43210,
United States
| | - Xijun Piao
- Department of Chemistry, The Ohio State University, 100 West 18th Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43210,
United States
| | - Dennis Bong
- Department of Chemistry, The Ohio State University, 100 West 18th Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43210,
United States
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Eschenmoser A. Ätiologie potentiell primordialer Biomolekül-Strukturen: Vom Vitamin B12 zu den Nukleinsäuren und der Frage nach der Chemie der Entstehung des Lebens - ein Rückblick. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2011. [DOI: 10.1002/ange.201103672] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
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38
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Eschenmoser A. Etiology of potentially primordial biomolecular structures: from vitamin B12 to the nucleic acids and an inquiry into the chemistry of life's origin: a retrospective. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2011; 50:12412-72. [PMID: 22162284 DOI: 10.1002/anie.201103672] [Citation(s) in RCA: 135] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2011] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
"We'll never be able to know" is a truism that leads to resignation with respect to any experimental effort to search for the chemistry of life's origin. But such resignation runs radically counter to the challenge imposed upon chemistry as a natural science. Notwithstanding the prognosis according to which the shortest path to understanding the metamorphosis of the chemical into the biological is by way of experimental modeling of "artificial chemical life", the scientific search for the route nature adopted in creating the life we know will arguably never truly end. It is, after all, part of the search for our own origin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Albert Eschenmoser
- Organisch-chemisches Laboratorium der ETH Zürich, Hönggerberg, Wolfgang-Pauli-Str. 10, CHI H309, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland
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39
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Plöger TA, von Kiedrowski G. Improved Large-Scale Liquid-Phase Synthesis and High-Temperature NMR Characterization of Short (F-)PNAs. Helv Chim Acta 2011. [DOI: 10.1002/hlca.201100243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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40
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Ma M, Bong D. Determinants of cyanuric acid and melamine assembly in water. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2011; 27:8841-8853. [PMID: 21688852 DOI: 10.1021/la201415d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
While the recognition of cyanuric acid (CA) by melamine (M) and their derivatives has been known to occur in both water and organic solvents for some time, analysis of CA/M assembly in water has not been reported (Ranganathan, A.; Pedireddi, V. R.; Rao, C. N. R. J. Am. Chem. Soc.1999, 121, 1752-1753; Mathias, J. P.; Simanek, E. E.; Seto, C. T.; Whitesides, G. M. Macromol. Symp.1994, 77, 157-166; Zerkowski, J. A.; MacDonald, J. C.; Seto, C. T.; Wierda, D. A.; Whitesides, G. M. J. Am. Chem. Soc.1994, 116, 2382-2391; Mathias, J. P.; Seto, C. T.; Whitesides, G. M. Polym. Prepr.1993, 34, 92-93; Seto, C. T.; Whitesides, G. M. J. Am. Chem. Soc.1993, 115, 905-916; Zerkowski, J. A.; Seto, C. T.; Whitesides, G. M. J. Am. Chem. Soc.1992, 114, 5473-5475; Seto, C. T.; Whitesides, G. M. J. Am. Chem. Soc.1990, 112, 6409-6411; Wang, Y.; Wei, B.; Wang, Q. J. Chem. Cryst.1990, 20, 79-84; ten Cate, M. G. J.; Huskens, J.; Crego-Calama, M.; Reinhoudt, D. N. Chem.-Eur. J.2004, 10, 3632-3639). We have examined assembly of CA/M, as well as assembly of soluble trivalent CA and M derivatives (TCA/TM), in aqueous solvent, using a combination of solution phase NMR, isothermal titration and differential scanning calorimetry (ITC/DSC), cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM), and synthetic chemistry. While the parent heterocycles coprecipitate in water, the trivalent system displays more controlled and cooperative assembly that occurs at lower concentrations than the parent and yields a stable nanoparticle suspension. The assembly of both parent and trivalent systems is rigorously 1:1 and proceeds as an exothermic, proton-transfer coupled process in neutral pH water. Though CA and M are considered canonical hydrogen-bonding motifs in organic solvents, we find that their assembly in water is driven in large part by enthalpically favorable surface-area burial, similar to what is observed with nucleic acid recognition. There are currently few synthetic systems capable of robust molecular recognition in water that do not rely on native recognition motifs, possibly due to an incomplete understanding of recognition processes in water. This study establishes a detailed conceptual framework for considering CA/M heterocycle recognition in water which enables the future design of molecular recognition systems that function in water.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingming Ma
- Department of Chemistry, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, United States
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41
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Hernández-Rodríguez M, Xie J, Osornio YM, Krishnamurthy R. Mapping the landscape of potentially primordial informational oligomers: (3'→2')-D-phosphoglyceric acid linked acyclic oligonucleotides tagged with 2,4-disubstituted 5-aminopyrimidines as recognition elements. Chem Asian J 2011; 6:1252-62. [PMID: 21387563 DOI: 10.1002/asia.201000828] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2010] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The (3'→2')-phosphodiester glyceric acid backbone containing an acyclic oligomer tagged with 2,4-disubstituted pyrimidines as alternative recognition elements have been synthesized. Strong cross-pairing of a 2,4-dioxo-5-aminopyrimidine hexamer, rivaling locked nucleic acid (LNA) and peptide nucleic acid (PNA), with complementary adenine-containing DNA and RNA sequences was observed. The corresponding 2,4-diamino- and 2-amino-4-oxo-5-aminopyrimidine-tagged oligomers were synthesized, but difficulties in deprotection, purification, and isolation thwarted further investigations. The acyclic phosphate backbone structure of the protected oligomer seems to be prone to an eliminative degradation owing to the acidic hydrogen at the 2'-position--an arrangement that renders the oligomer vulnerable to the conditions used for the removal of the protecting groups on the heterocyclic recognition element. However, the free oligomers seem to be stable under the conditions investigated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcos Hernández-Rodríguez
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA-92037, USA
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42
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Abstract
Since the structure of DNA was elucidated more than 50 years ago, Watson-Crick base pairing has been widely speculated to be the likely mode of both information storage and transfer in the earliest genetic polymers. The discovery of catalytic RNA molecules subsequently provided support for the hypothesis that RNA was perhaps even the first polymer of life. However, the de novo synthesis of RNA using only plausible prebiotic chemistry has proven difficult, to say the least. Experimental investigations, made possible by the application of synthetic and physical organic chemistry, have now provided evidence that the nucleobases (A, G, C, and T/U), the trifunctional moiety ([deoxy]ribose), and the linkage chemistry (phosphate esters) of contemporary nucleic acids may be optimally suited for their present roles-a situation that suggests refinement by evolution. Here, we consider studies of variations in these three distinct components of nucleic acids with regard to the question: Is RNA, as is generally acknowledged of DNA, the product of evolution? If so, what chemical and structural features might have been more likely and advantageous for a proto-RNA?
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron E Engelhart
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA
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43
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Powner MW, Sutherland JD, Szostak JW. Chemoselective multicomponent one-pot assembly of purine precursors in water. J Am Chem Soc 2010; 132:16677-88. [PMID: 21043502 PMCID: PMC2984373 DOI: 10.1021/ja108197s] [Citation(s) in RCA: 128] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2010] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The recent development of a sequential, high-yielding route to activated pyrimidine nucleotides, under conditions thought to be prebiotic, is an encouraging step toward the greater goal of a plausible prebiotic pathway to RNA and the potential for an RNA world. However, this synthesis has led to a disparity in the methodology available for stepwise construction of the canonical pyrimidine and purine nucleotides. To address this problem, and further explore prebiotically accessible chemical systems, we have developed a high-yielding, aqueous, one-pot, multicomponent reaction that tethers masked-sugar moieties to prebiotically plausible purine precursors. A pH-dependent three-component reaction system has been discovered that utilizes key nucleotide synthons 2-aminooxazole and 5-aminoimidazoles, which allows the first divergent purine/pyrimidine synthesis to be proposed. Due to regiospecific aminoimidazole tethering, the pathway allows N9 purination only, thus suggesting the first prebiotically plausible mechanism for regiospecific N9 purination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew W Powner
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Molecular Biology and Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, 185 Cambridge Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, United States.
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Horowitz ED, Engelhart AE, Chen MC, Quarles KA, Smith MW, Lynn DG, Hud NV. Intercalation as a means to suppress cyclization and promote polymerization of base-pairing oligonucleotides in a prebiotic world. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2010; 107:5288-93. [PMID: 20212163 PMCID: PMC2851777 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0914172107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The RNA world hypothesis proposes that nucleic acids were once responsible for both information storage and chemical catalysis, before the advent of coded protein synthesis. However, it is difficult to imagine how nucleic acid polymers first appeared, as the abiotic chemical formation of long nucleic acid polymers from mononucleotides or short oligonucleotides remains elusive, and barriers to achieving this goal are substantial. One specific obstacle to abiotic nucleic acid polymerization is strand cyclization. Chemically activated short oligonucleotides cyclize efficiently, which severely impairs polymer growth. We show that intercalation, which stabilizes and rigidifies nucleic acid duplexes, almost totally eliminates strand cyclization, allowing for chemical ligation of tetranucleotides into duplex polymers of up to 100 base pairs in length. In contrast, when these reactions are performed in the absence of intercalators, almost exclusively cyclic tetra- and octanucleotides are produced. Intercalator-free polymerization is not observed, even at tetranucleotide concentrations > 10,000-fold greater than those at which intercalators enable polymerization. We also demonstrate that intercalation-mediated polymerization is most favored if the size of the intercalator matches that of the base pair; intercalators that bind to Watson-Crick base pairs promote the polymerization of oligonucleotides that form these base pairs. Additionally, we demonstrate that intercalation-mediated polymerization is possible with an alternative, non-Watson-Crick-paired duplex that selectively binds a complementary intercalator. These results support the hypothesis that intercalators (acting as 'molecular midwives') could have facilitated the polymerization of the first nucleic acids and possibly helped select the first base pairs, even if only trace amounts of suitable oligomers were available.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric D. Horowitz
- Center for Fundamental and Applied Molecular Evolution
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332; and
| | - Aaron E. Engelhart
- Center for Fundamental and Applied Molecular Evolution
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332; and
| | - Michael C. Chen
- Center for Fundamental and Applied Molecular Evolution
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332; and
| | - Kaycee A. Quarles
- Center for Fundamental and Applied Molecular Evolution
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332; and
| | - Michael W. Smith
- Center for Fundamental and Applied Molecular Evolution
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332; and
| | - David G. Lynn
- Center for Fundamental and Applied Molecular Evolution
- Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322
| | - Nicholas V. Hud
- Center for Fundamental and Applied Molecular Evolution
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332; and
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45
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Šponer J, Vázquez-Mayagoitia Á, Sumpter B, Leszczynski J, Šponer J, Otyepka M, Banáš P, Fuentes-Cabrera M. Theoretical Studies on the Intermolecular Interactions of Potentially Primordial Base-Pair Analogues. Chemistry 2010; 16:3057-65. [DOI: 10.1002/chem.200902068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
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46
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Diederichsen U. Dynamic sequence modification: a design principle for synthetic informational oligomers. Chembiochem 2010; 10:2717-9. [PMID: 19830762 DOI: 10.1002/cbic.200900543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ulf Diederichsen
- Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Institut für Organische und Biomolekulare Chemie, Tammannstrasse 2, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.
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47
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Zhang X, Krishnamurthy R. Mapping the landscape of potentially primordial informational oligomers: oligo-dipeptides tagged with orotic acid derivatives as recognition elements. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2010; 48:8124-8. [PMID: 19768828 DOI: 10.1002/anie.200904188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Xuejun Zhang
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
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48
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Rebek J, Kamioka S, Ajami D, C. Sather A, J. Hooley R. Autocatalysis and Organocatalysis with Kemp’s Triacid Compounds. HETEROCYCLES 2010. [DOI: 10.3987/com-10-s(e)31] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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49
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Abstract
The discovery of ribozymes led to the proposal of an RNA world, where a single type of molecule was supposedly capable of self-replication and chemical catalysis. We show here that both autocatalysis and organocatalysis can be engineered into a synthetic structure. The compound is shown to selectively accelerate its own formation and catalyze either hydrogenation or nucleophilic addition to alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes. The observed reactivity indicates that the components of a purported pre-RNA world conceivably include smaller organic molecules.
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50
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Appella DH. Non-natural nucleic acids for synthetic biology. Curr Opin Chem Biol 2009; 13:687-96. [PMID: 19879178 PMCID: PMC3152792 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2009.09.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2009] [Revised: 09/24/2009] [Accepted: 09/29/2009] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Genetic manipulation is an important facet of synthetic biology but can be complicated by undesired nuclease degradation. Incorporating non-natural nucleic acids into a gene could convey resistance to nucleases and promote expression. The compatibility of non-natural nucleosides with polymerases is reviewed with a focus on results from the past two years. Details are provided about how the different systems could be useful in synthetic biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel H Appella
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
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