STUDIES ON THE BIOSYNTHESIS OF BACTERIAL AND VIRAL PYRIMIDINES

Synthesis and Kinetic Study of the Deamination of the Cis Diastereomers of 5,6-Dihydroxy-5,6-dihydro-5-methyl-2'-deoxycytidine

The main objectives of the present work were the synthesis of the two cis diastereomers of 5,6-dihydroxy-5,6-dihydro-5-methyl-2'-deoxycytidine and the kinetic study of their hydrolytic deamination. The preparation of the two glycols, two main (*)OH-mediated oxidation products of 5-methyl-2'-deoxycytidine, was achieved in two steps. The first one involved the synthesis of the two trans-(5R,6S)- and (5S,6R)-5-bromo-6-hydroxy-5,6-dihydro-5-methyl-2'-deoxycytidine. In a subsequent step, the bromohydrins were specifically converted into the cis-(5S,6S) and (5R,6R) diastereomers of 5,6-dihydroxy-5,6-dihydro-5-methyl-2'-deoxycytidine, respectively, under slightly alkaline conditions. The resulting glycols were purified by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography and characterized by extensive spectroscopy measurements including (13)C- and (1)H-NMR analyses. Exact mass determination was inferred from high resolution fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry measurements. Circular dichroism spectroscopy confirmed the diastereomeric relationship existing between the pair of glycols. Kinetic study of the deamination of the above glycols was carried out in phosphate buffer solutions (pH 7) at two different temperatures (37 degrees C and 25 degrees C) in order to determine the thermodynamic and kinetic parameters of the reaction.

Hydrolysis of dihydrouridine and related compounds

Dihydrouridine is absent from the tRNA of almost all hyperthermophiles and most Archaea but is ubiquitous in the tRNA of Eubacteria and Eukaryotes. In order to investigate whether this could be due to instability, the rate of ring opening of dihydrouridine was measured between 25 and 120 degrees C. The dihydrouridine ring is stable at 25 degrees C, but the half-life at 100 degrees C and pH 7 is 9.1 h, which is comparable to the doubling time of hyperthermophiles. This suggests an explanation for the absence of dihydrouridine from the tRNA of hyperthermophiles. The rates of ring opening of dihydrouracil, dihydrothymine, and 1-N-methyldihydrouracil were measured at 100 degrees C and pH 6-9, as were the equilibrium constants for ring closure of the ureido acids to the dihydrouracils. The pH rate profiles for ring opening and ring closing were calculated from the data. Possible roles for dihydrouracils in the pre-RNA world are discussed.