Efforts to expand the genetic alphabet: identification of a replicable unnatural DNA self-pair
Overview of Henry AA et al.
Authors | Henry AA  Olsen AG  Matsuda S  Yu C  Geierstanger BH  Romesberg FE   |
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Affiliation | Department of Chemistry   The Scripps Research Institute   10550 North Torrey Pines Road   La Jolla   California 92037   USA.   |
Journal | J Am Chem Soc |
Year | 2004 |
Abstract
Six unnatural nucleotides featuring fluorine-substituted phenyl nucleobase analogues have been synthesized, incorporated into DNA, and characterized in terms of the structure and replication properties of the self-pairs they form. Each unnatural self-pair is accommodated in B-form DNA without detectable structural perturbation, and all are thermally stable and selective to roughly the same degree. Furthermore, the efficiency of polymerase-mediated mispair synthesis is similar for each unnatural nucleotide in the template. In contrast, the efficiency of polymerase-mediated self-pair extension is highly dependent on the specific fluorine substitution pattern. The most promising unnatural base pair candidate of this series is the 3-fluorobenzene self-pair, which is replicated with reasonable efficiency and selectivity.