A Theoretical Mechanism of Szilard Engine Function in Nucleic Acids and the Implications for Quantum Coherence in Biological Systems

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Matthew Mihelic ◽  
Richard L. Amoroso ◽  
Peter Rowlands ◽  
Stanley Jeffers
Keyword(s):  
Nucleic Acids ◽  
Quantum Coherence ◽  
Biological Systems ◽  
Theoretical Mechanism

New perspectives on the use of nucleic acids in pharmacological applications: inhibitory action of extracellular self-DNA in biological systems

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 937-946 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Mazzoleni ◽  
Fabrizio Cartenì ◽  
Giuliano Bonanomi ◽  
Guido Incerti ◽  
Maria Luisa Chiusano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nucleic Acids ◽  
Inhibitory Action ◽  
Biological Systems

scholarly journals Prebiotic oligomerization and self-assembly of structurally diverse xenobiological monomers

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kuhan Chandru ◽  
Tony Z. Jia ◽  
Irena Mamajanov ◽  
Niraja Bapat ◽  
H. James Cleaves
Keyword(s):  
Nucleic Acids ◽  
Self Assembly ◽  
Cyclic Nucleotide ◽  
Biological Systems ◽  
Kinetic Control ◽  
Mild Conditions ◽  
Self Organized ◽  
Ring Structures ◽  
Drying Conditions ◽  
Stable Ring

Abstract Prebiotic chemists often study how modern biopolymers, e.g., peptides and nucleic acids, could have originated in the primitive environment, though most contemporary biomonomers don’t spontaneously oligomerize under mild conditions without activation or catalysis. However, life may not have originated using the same monomeric components that it does presently. There may be numerous non-biological (or “xenobiological”) monomer types that were prebiotically abundant and capable of facile oligomerization and self-assembly. Many modern biopolymers degrade abiotically preferentially via processes which produce thermodynamically stable ring structures, e.g. diketopiperazines in the case of proteins and 2′, 3′-cyclic nucleotide monophosphates in the case of RNA. This weakness is overcome in modern biological systems by kinetic control, but this need not have been the case for primitive systems. We explored here the oligomerization of a structurally diverse set of prebiotically plausible xenobiological monomers, which can hydrolytically interconvert between cyclic and acyclic forms, alone or in the presence of glycine under moderate temperature drying conditions. These monomers included various lactones, lactams and a thiolactone, which varied markedly in their stability, propensity to oligomerize and apparent modes of initiation, and the oligomeric products of some of these formed self-organized microscopic structures which may be relevant to protocell formation.

Address of the President Lord Blackett, O.M., C.H. at the Anniversary Meeting, 30 November 1970

1971 ◽  
Vol 177 (1046) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Nucleic Acid ◽  
Nucleic Acids ◽  
Biological Systems ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Dimensional Structure ◽  
Theoretical Knowledge ◽  
Three Dimensional Structure ◽  
Subsequent Determination

Todd has made highly significant contributions to the chemistry of natural products, in particular in relation to compounds which play important roles in biological systems. His researches on vitamins B 1 , E and B 12 were most elegant and have had far-reaching implications, but none more so than his structural and synthetic studies in the nucleic acid field. Here he developed methods for the synthesis of the nucleosides and for their phosphorylation; his work on the way they are combined made possible the subsequent determination of the three-dimensional structure of the nucleic acids thereby providing the basis for much of the exciting activity in the nucleotide field today. Todd’s achievements arise out of a rare combination of theoretical knowledge and outstanding experimental skill, with the most judicious exploitation of modern techniques. His work and his quality as an investigator have been widely recognized by biologists as well as by organic chemists.

Spin-labelled nucleic acids

1981 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. G. Kamzolova ◽  
G. B. Postnikova
Keyword(s):  
Nucleic Acids ◽  
Spin Label ◽  
Dynamic Behaviour ◽  
Protein Complexes ◽  
Dynamic Properties ◽  
Biological Systems ◽  
Spin Labels ◽  
Esr Spectrum ◽  
Label Method ◽  
Conformational Properties

The spin label method developed by McConnell 15 years ago is now widely used in studies of the structure and dynamic properties of a variety of the biological systems such as proteins and protein complexes, lipids and membranes, nucleic acids, nucleoproteins, etc.The ESR spectrum of the nitroxide radcal – the spin label – is very sensitive to its microenvironment and permits easy registration of even subtle alterations in it. If spin labels are attached to different sites of a macromolecule the information can be gained about conformational properties of all these local regions and, as a result, about the dynamic behaviour of the object as a whole.

scholarly journals Macromolecular crystallography using neutrons

2014 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 40-42
Author(s):  
Matthew Blakeley
Keyword(s):  
Nucleic Acids ◽  
Biological Systems ◽  
Biological Macromolecules ◽  
X Rays ◽  
Macromolecular Crystallography ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
Vast Array ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Macromolecular Assemblies

When you think about macromolecular crystallography, the technique that most often comes to mind is X-ray diffraction and it's no wonder. Over 88000 structures of biological macromolecules – from proteins and nucleic acids to viruses and macromolecular assemblies – have been determined using X-rays, and these have contributed significantly to our understanding of a vast array of biological systems and processes.

Address of the President Lord Blackett, O.M., C.H. at the Anniversary Meeting, 30 November 1970

1971 ◽  
Vol 321 (1544) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Nucleic Acid ◽  
Nucleic Acids ◽  
Biological Systems ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Dimensional Structure ◽  
Theoretical Knowledge ◽  
Three Dimensional Structure ◽  
Subsequent Determination

The Copley Medal is awarded to Lord Todd, F. R. S. Todd has made highly significant contributions to the chemistry of natural products, in particular in relation to compounds which play important roles in biological systems. His researches on vitamins B 1 , E and B 12 were most elegant and have had far-reaching implications, but none more so than his structural and synthetic studies in the nucleic acid field. Here he developed methods for the synthesis of the nucleosides and for their phosphorylation; his work on the way they are combined made possible the subsequent determination of the three-dimensional structure of the nucleic acids thereby providing the basis for much of the exciting activity in the nucleotide field today. Todd’s achievements arise out of a rare combination of theoretical knowledge and outstanding experimental skill, with the most judicious exploitation of modern techniques. His work and his quality as an investigator have been widely recognized by biologists as well as by organic chemists.

scholarly journals Advanced Nanoscale Approaches to Single-(Bio)entity Sensing and Imaging

Biosensors ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Neves ◽  
Daniel Martín-Yerga
Keyword(s):  
Nucleic Acids ◽  
Physicochemical Properties ◽  
Biological Systems ◽  
Life Sciences ◽  
Biological Processes ◽  
Average Response ◽  
Single Entity ◽  
Conventional Methods ◽  
Stochastic Events ◽  
Conventional Detection

Individual (bio)chemical entities could show a very heterogeneous behaviour under the same conditions that could be relevant in many biological processes of significance in the life sciences. Conventional detection approaches are only able to detect the average response of an ensemble of entities and assume that all entities are identical. From this perspective, important information about the heterogeneities or rare (stochastic) events happening in individual entities would remain unseen. Some nanoscale tools present interesting physicochemical properties that enable the possibility to detect systems at the single-entity level, acquiring richer information than conventional methods. In this review, we introduce the foundations and the latest advances of several nanoscale approaches to sensing and imaging individual (bio)entities using nanoprobes, nanopores, nanoimpacts, nanoplasmonics and nanomachines. Several (bio)entities such as cells, proteins, nucleic acids, vesicles and viruses are specifically considered. These nanoscale approaches provide a wide and complete toolbox for the study of many biological systems at the single-entity level.

scholarly journals Witnessing Quantum Coherence: from solid-state to biological systems

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Che-Ming Li ◽  
Neill Lambert ◽  
Yueh-Nan Chen ◽  
Guang-Yin Chen ◽  
Franco Nori
Keyword(s):  
Solid State ◽  
Quantum Coherence ◽  
Biological Systems
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