Thermodynamics of Nucleic Acid Structural Modifications for Biotechnology Applications

Abstract

IntroductionThe repertoire of chemistry available to native nucleotides in DNA and RNA is limited to the purine and pyrimidine functional groups, along with the special role of the 2'-hydroxyl of RNA. The nucleobases have exocyclic amino groups and imines, neither of which is highly reactive or a good candidate for catalytic function. One might argue that the limited range of chemical reactivity is an evolutionary advantage in molecules whose functions are primarily to store (DNA) and process (RNA) genetic information. The most important attribute of both DNA and RNA is the molecular recognition through base pairing. The hydrogen bond pattern combined with the conformation of the ribose sugar gives rise to the specific B-form double helix in DNA and A-form helix with a range of additional standard folds in RNA, loops, bulges and pseudoknots. These structures are well known for their ability to interact with proteins to provide a scaffold for transcription (DNA → RNA) to create messenger RNA (mRNA), and processing of mRNA by enzymes that have active components composed of RNA molecules. The chemical action of RNA on other RNAs by means of the 2'-hydroxyl is an exception to the lack or reactivity of DNA and RNA. Selfsplicing by action of the 2'-hydroxyl as a nucleophile was the process that broke the dogma that RNA is always a passive molecule that simply transmits information [1]. Indeed, RNA i s v e r y a c t i v e i n p r o c e s s i n g o t h e r R N A s u s i n g t h e 2 ' -h y d r o x y l a s a n u c l e o p h i l e f o r hydrolysis of the phosphodiester bond leading to cleavage or to rearrangements of structure such as RNA splicing. Outside of this reactivity, the components of the purine and pyrimidine rings are largely inert. Aromatic amines are poor nucleophiles, and imines are even less reactive. The purine and pyrimidine rings are not particularly electrophilic because of the nitrogen heteroatoms and carbonyls. Using in vitro selection (also known as SELEX) [2][3][4], and appropriate modification, RNA and DNA have been developed for numerous applications that transcend their biological functions. In this chapter we will consider the modifications of the nucleobase as a means to expand upon the native function. The extensive literature on modifications of the phosphodiester backbone and the ribose sugar will not be considered in this chapter due to space limitations. Base modifications may consist of expansions of the purine/pyrimidine ring, appended functional group or chemical modification to increase the stability of the backbone with respect to hydrolysis. Expanded DNA or xDNA has been developed as mimics of native DNA with potential biotechnology applications [5,6]. In these molecules, the purine and pyrimidine rings are fused to phenyl or naphthyl rings to give rise to