Conjugation of nucleoside triphosphates to an amino linker

Protons as the triggers to regulate hydrogen-bonding receptors

[reaction: see text] The protonation of alkylamines in two novel receptors results in intramolecular host-guest associations between the resulting ammonium ions and crown ether macrocycles. These interactions result in conformational changes of the receptors and prevent them from acting as hydrogen bond complements for uracil and carboxylate guest species.

Gold-ATP

The synthesis, purification, and chemical analysis of two covalent conjugates between ATP and undecagold are described, one in which gold is attached to the ribose moiety of ATP and the other in which it is attached to the N-6 position of the adenine base. The former probe was then used to bind to two ATP binding proteins, the helicase DnaB and the chaperone DnaK. After purification from unbound gold by column chromatography, binding was measured by UV-Vis spectroscopy, then the protein and gold were visualized by scanning transmission electron microscopy. Binding was observed with the conjugates, and virtually no binding occurred in the control of undecagold without the ATP attached. This new probe may be useful for studying nucleotide binding sites on proteins or for labeling nucleic acids or oligonucleotides directly.