The novel transformation of cytosine oxime sulfonate (C*) to uracil sulfonate (U*) proceeded by a Co(II)-assisted benzoyl peroxide reaction, eventually leading to the conversion of cytosine to uracil.

Protein p56 encoded by the Bacillus subtilis phage phi29 inhibits host uracil-DNA glycosylase (UDG) activity. In previous studies, we suggested that this inhibition is likely a defense mechanism developed by phage phi29 to prevent the action of UDG if uracilation occurs in DNA either from deamination of cytosine or the incorporation of dUMP during viral DNA replication. In this work, we analyze...

Archaeal family-D DNA polymerase is inhibited by the presence of uracil in DNA template strands. When the enzyme encounters uracil, following three parameters change: DNA binding increases roughly 2-fold, the rate of polymerization slows by a factor of ≈ 5 and 3'-5' proof-reading exonuclease activity is stimulated by a factor of ≈ 2. Together these changes result in a significant decrease in po...

Pathogen expulsion from the gut is an important defense strategy against infection, but little is known about how interaction between the intestinal microbiome and host immunity modulates defecation. In Drosophila melanogaster, dual oxidase (Duox) kills pathogenic microbes by generating the microbicidal reactive oxygen species (ROS), hypochlorous acid (HOCl) in response to bacterially excreted ...

Uracil DNA glycosylases (UDGs) are an important group of DNA repair enzymes, which pioneer the base excision repair pathway by recognizing and excising uracil from DNA. Based on two short conserved sequences (motifs A and B), UDGs have been classified into six families. Here we report a novel UDG, UdgX, from Mycobacterium smegmatis and other organisms. UdgX specifically recognizes uracil in DNA...

A new concept on bioinspired assembly of functional diblock copolymers, capable of forming different microstructures through nucleobase-induced supramolecular interactions, has been explored. In this paper, a new series of uracil-functionalized poly(ε-caprolactone)-b-(4-vinylbenzyl uracil)s (PCL-b-PVBU) have been prepared which exhibit a high self-complementary ability in solution and solid sta...

The gas phase acidities of a series of uracil derivatives (1-methyluracil, 3-methyluracil, 6-methyluracil, 5,6-dimethyluracil, and 1,3-dimethyluracil) have been bracketed to provide an understanding of the intrinsic reactivity of uracil. The experiments indicate that in the gas phase, uracil has four sites more acidic than water. Among the uracil analogs, the N1-H sites have deltaH(acid) values...

Oxidative damage to DNA has been implicated in carcinogenesis during chronic inflammation. Epidemiological and biochemical studies suggest that one potential mechanism involves myeloperoxidase, a hemeprotein secreted by human phagocytes. In this study, we demonstrate that human neutrophils use myeloperoxidase to oxidize uracil to 5-chlorouracil in vitro. Uracil chlorination by myeloperoxidase o...

It has been shown that uracil can be incorporated into ribonucleic acid of the normal rat tissues (2). However, this incorporation becomes significant only when the enzymes associated with the catabolism of uracil are saturated with their substrates. When thii is achieved, the incorporation of uracil into RNA increases with substrate concentration. At high concentrations the extent of incorpora...

Crystal structures of the DNA repair enzyme human uracil-DNA glycosylase (UDG), combined with mutational analysis, reveal the structural basis for the specificity of the enzyme. Within the classic alpha/beta fold of UDG, sequence-conserved residues form a positively charged, active-site groove the width of duplex DNA, at the C-terminal edge of the central four-stranded parallel beta sheet. In t...