Cytidine deaminase can deaminate fused pyrimidine ribonucleosides

Isomorphic Fluorescent Nucleosides

In 1960, Weber prophesied that "There are many ways in which the properties of the excited state can be utilized to study points of ignorance of the structure and function of proteins". This has been realized, illustrating that an intrinsic and highly responsive fluorophore such as tryptophan can alter the course of an entire scientific discipline. But what about RNA and DNA? Adapting Weber's protein photophysics prophecy to nucleic acids requires the development of intrinsically emissive nucleoside surrogates as, unlike Trp, the canonical nucleobases display unusually low emission quantum yields, which render nucleosides, nucleotides, and oligonucleotides practically dark for most fluorescence-based applications.Over the past decades, we have developed emissive nucleoside surrogates that facilitate the monitoring of nucleoside-, nucleotide-, and nucleic acid-based transformations at a nucleobase resolution in real time. The premise underlying our approach is the identification of minimal atomic/structural perturbations that endow the synthetic analogs with favorable photophysical features while maintaining native conformations and pairing. As illuminating probes, the photophysical parameters of such isomorphic nucleosides display sensitivity to microenvironmental factors. Responsive isomorphic analogs that function similarly to their native counterparts in biochemical contexts are defined as isofunctional.Early analogs included pyrimidines substituted with five-membered aromatic heterocycles at their 5 position and have been used to assess the polarity of the major groove in duplexes. Polarized quinazolines have proven useful in assembling FRET pairs with established fluorophores and have been used to study RNA-protein and RNA-small-molecule binding. Completing a fluorescent ribonucleoside alphabet, composed of visibly emissive purine (thA, thG) and pyrimidine (thU, thC) analogs, all derived from thieno[3,4-d]pyrimidine as the heterocyclic nucleus, was a major breakthrough. To further augment functionality, a second-generation emissive RNA alphabet based on an isothiazolo[4,3-d]pyrimidine core (thA, tzG, tzU, and tzC) was fabricated. This single-atom "mutagenesis" restored the basic/coordinating nitrogen corresponding to N7 in the purine skeleton and elevated biological recognition.The isomorphic emissive nucleosides and nucleotides, particularly the purine analogs, serve as substrates for diverse enzymes. Beyond polymerases, we have challenged the emissive analogs with metabolic and catabolic enzymes, opening optical windows into the biochemistry of nucleosides and nucleotides as metabolites as well as coenzymes and second messengers. Real-time fluorescence-based assays for adenosine deaminase, guanine deaminase, and cytidine deaminase have been fabricated and used for inhibitor discovery. Emissive cofactors (e.g., SthAM), coenzymes (e.g., NtzAD+), and second messengers (e.g., c-di-tzGMP) have been enzymatically synthesized, using xyNTPs and native enzymes. Both their biosynthesis and their transformations can be fluorescently monitored in real time.Highly isomorphic and isofunctional emissive surrogates can therefore be fabricated and judiciously implemented. Beyond their utility, side-by-side comparison to established analogs, particularly to 2-aminopurine, the workhorse of nucleic acid biophysics over 5 decades, has proven prudent as they refined the scope and limitations of both the new analogs and their predecessors. Challenges, however, remain. Associated with such small heterocycles are relatively short emission wavelengths and limited brightness. Recent advances in multiphoton spectroscopy and further structural modifications have shown promise for overcoming such barriers.

Inherently Emissive Puromycin Analogues for Live Cell Labelling

Puromycin derivatives containing an emissive thieno[3,4-d]-pyrimidine core, modified with azetidine and 3,3-difluoroazetidine as Me2 N surrogates, exhibit translation inhibition and bactericidal activity similar to the natural antibiotic. The analogues are capable of cellular puromycylation of nascent peptides, generating emissive products without any follow-up chemistry. The 3,3-difluoroazetidine-containing analogue is shown to fluorescently label newly translated peptides and be visualized in both live and fixed HEK293T cells and rat hippocampal neurons.

A New Variant of Emissive RNA Alphabets

A new fluorescent ribonucleoside alphabet (mth N) consisting of pyrimidine and purine analogues, all derived from methylthieno[3,4-d]pyrimidine as the heterocyclic core, is described. Large bathochromic shifts and high microenvironmental susceptibility of their emission relative to previous alphabets derived from thieno[3,4-d]pyrimidine (th N) and isothiazole[4,3-d]pyrimidine (tz N) scaffolds are observed. Subjecting the purine analogues to adenosine deaminase, guanine deaminase and T7 RNA polymerase indicate that, while varying, all but one enzyme tolerate the corresponding mth N/mth NTP substrates. The robust emission quantum yields, high photophysical responsiveness and enzymatic accommodation suggest that the mth N alphabet is a biophysically viable tool and can be used to probe the tolerance of nucleoside/tide-processing enzymes to structural perturbations of their substrates.