The nucleic acids are such universal constituents of biological systems and their function is probably so important that it is not surprising that much labour has been spent on the study of their composition. Until very recently there have been no methods of analysis which could be considered more than semiquantitative, and it now seems doubtful whether many published analyses are even approxim...

Helicases are promising antiviral drug targets because their enzymatic activities are essential for viral genome replication, transcription, and translation. Numerous potent inhibitors of helicases encoded by herpes simplex virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, hepatitis C virus, Japanese encephalitis virus, West Nile virus, and human papillomavirus have been recently reported i...

The porphyrin compound, TMPyP4 (5,10,15,20-Tetrakis-(N-methyl-4-pyridyl)porphine), is widely used as a photosensitizer and a modulator of nucleic acid secondary structure stability. Our group recently showed in cultured cells and forebrain slice cultures that this compound can also down regulate expression of Tyrosine hydroxylase (Th), which encodes the rate-limiting enzyme in catecholamine bio...

Dietary nucleosides and nucleotides perform a range of functions in our body. They play important role in the maintenance of mitochondrial function, differentiation of hematopoietic cells, strengthen the immune system, helps in small intestine growth and development, lipid metabolism etc. External supplementation of dietary nucleotides is a good regimen against mitochondrial dysfunction caused ...

,g i:. The contemporary biochemist, perusing the publications of the past century, may easily be misled into some arrogance when sorting out the erroneous data and leads, the slow progress and the primitive reports of that early period. However, when recalling the limited techniques and the lack of facilities at the early stages of biochemistry, he will change his mind. The difficulties encount...

Development of potent new anti-Shigella agents for rapid and specific detection and treatment is of great importance. Aptamers, nucleic acid oligomers capable of specific binding to a wide range of non-nucleic acid targets, may be of value for this purpose. In the present study, we used a Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential enrichment (SELEX) process to select DNA aptamers that b...

By hindering or "silencing" protein translation in vivo, antisense nucleic acid analogues that hybridize to bacterial rRNA could serve as a promising class of antibacterial compounds. Thus, we performed a comparative analysis of the dynamical properties of modified oligonucleotides based upon a sequence (5')r(UGUUACGACU)(3') that is complementary to bacterial ribosomal A-site RNA. In particular...

Numerous publications during the last 6 years have indicated the importance of the nitrogen mustards in clinical and experimental cancer chemotherapy (9, 10, 21, 32, 33, 41, 42). The principal application has been to the treatment of lymphomas and leukemias. Two compounds, methylbis(/3-chloroethyl)amine (HN2) and tris(/3-chloroethyl)amine, have been most widely used. An equally impressive numbe...

Nucleotides are low molecular weight intracellular compounds that play major roles in physiological and biological functions. They act as precursors for nucleic acid synthesis and are also fundamental for intermediary metabolism. Nucleotides and nucleic acids turn over rapidly, especially in growing tissues or those undergoing constant cell renewal. Tissues that grow have a net formation of new...

The reversible interaction of a 9-aminoacridine derivative with the ribonucleic acid of yeast was reported in a preliminary paper (1). The present report is concerned with a study of the binding of 2-methoxy-6-chloro-9(l’-methyl-8’-diethylaminooctylamino)acridine (SN-12868)’ by the nucleoprotein and desoxypentose nucleic acid of beef spleen, and additional data are presented for the interaction...