Nucleic Acids Research Advance Access published online on July 25, 2007
Nucleic Acids Research, doi:10.1093/nar/gkm498
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Nucleic Acid Enzymes |
Polymerase-catalyzed synthesis of DNA from phosphoramidate conjugates of deoxynucleotides and amino acids
1Rega Institute for Medical Research, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Minderbroedersstraat 10, 3000 Leuven, Belgium and 2Genoscope - Centre National de Séquen
age, 2 rue Gaston Crémieux CP5706, 91057 Evry cedex, France
*To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +32 16 337387; Fax: +32 16 337340; Email: piet.herdewijn{at}rega.kuleuven.be
Received March 21, 2007. Revised June 6, 2007. Accepted June 7, 2007.
Some selected amino acids, in particular L-aspartic acid (L-Asp) and L-histidine (L-His), can function as leaving group during polymerase-catalyzed incorporation of deoxyadenosine monophosphate (dAMP) in DNA. Although L-Asp-dAMP and L-His-dAMP bind, most probably, in a different way in the active site of the enzyme, aspartic acid and histidine can be considered as mimics of the pyrophosphate moiety of deoxyadenosine triphosphate. L-Aspartic acid is more efficient than D-aspartic acid as leaving group. Such P-N conjugates of amino acids and deoxynucleotides provide a novel experimental ground for diversifying nucleic acid metabolism in the field of synthetic biology.