Borated Titania,a New Option for the Selective Enrichment of cis‐Diol Biomolecules

As low abundance cis‐diol biomolecules are of great significance in biological organisms, preparation of materials for the selective enrichment of such compounds is highly favorable for the development of the related proteomics and metabolomics. To this end, we have prepared monolithic borated titania by a non‐aqueous sol‐gel strategy as a new inorganic affinity material for the specific capture of nucleosides, glycopeptides and glycoproteins. Benefiting from the inorganic framework, this material prevented the hydrophobic interference, which was somewhat inevitable for the mainstream organic‐based boronate affinity materials. The prepared material was carefully characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and nitrogen‐sorption experiments to investigate the morphology and elemental composition. The excellent performance of borated titania on enrichment of cis‐diol biomolecules was demonstrated by extracting the glycopeptides from horseradish peroxidase (HRP) digestion, standard glycoproteins, and nucleosides from a human‐urine matrix. This kind of inorganic affinity material offers a new option for selective enrichment or separation of cis‐diol biomolecules.     

Alkylsulfanylphenyl derivatives of cytosine and 7-deazaadenine nucleosides, nucleotides and nucleoside triphosphates: synthesis, polymerase incorporation to DNA and electrochemical study

Aqueous Suzuki–Miyaura cross‐coupling reactions of halogenated nucleosides, nucleotides and nucleoside triphosphates derived from 5‐iodocytosine and 7‐iodo‐7‐deazaadenine with methyl‐, benzyl‐ and tritylsufanylphenylboronic acids gave the corresponding alkylsulfanylphenyl derivatives of nucleosides and nucleotides. The modified nucleoside triphosphates were incorporated into DNA by primer extension by using Vent(exo‐) polymerase. The electrochemical behaviour of the alkylsulfanylphenyl nucleosides indicated formation of compact layers on the electrode. Modified nucleotides and DNA with incorporated benzyl‐ or tritylsulfanylphenyl moieties produced signals in [Co(NH₃)₆]³⁺ ammonium buffer, attributed to the Brdi?ka catalytic response, depending on the negative potential applied. Repeated constant current chronopotentiometric scans in this medium showed increased Brdi?ka catalytic response, which suggests the deprotection of the alkylsulfanyl derivatives to free thiols under the conditions.     

Synthesis of Disaccharide Nucleosides by the O‐Glycosylation of Natural Nucleosides with Thioglycoside Donors

Disaccharide nucleosides constitute an important group of naturally‐occurring sugar derivatives. In this study, we report on the synthesis of disaccharide nucleosides by the direct O‐glycosylation of nucleoside acceptors, such as adenosine, guanosine, thymidine, and cytidine, with glycosyl donors. Among the glycosyl donors tested, thioglycosides were found to give the corresponding disaccharide nucleosides in moderate to high chemical yields with the above nucleoside acceptors using p‐toluenesulfenyl chloride (TolSCl) and silver triflate (AgOTf) as promoters. The interaction of these promoters with nucleoside acceptors was examined by ¹H NMR spectroscopic experiments.     

Mass spectrometric identification of modified urinary nucleosides used as potential biomedical markers by LC–ITMS coupling

In diseases accompanied by strong metabolic disorders, like cancer and AIDS, modifying enzymes are up- or down-regulated. As a result, many different types of metabolic end-products, including abnormal amounts of modified nucleosides, are found in urine. These nucleosides are degradation products of an impaired ribonucleic acid (RNA) metabolism, which affects the nucleoside pattern in urine. In several basic experiments we elucidated the fragmentation pathways of 16 characteristic nucleosides and six corresponding nucleic bases that occur in urine using electrospray ionization ion trap MS⁵ (ESI-ITMS) experiments operated in positive ionization mode. For urinary nucleoside analysis, we developed an auto-LC–MS³ method based on prepurification via boronate gel affinity chromatography followed by reversed phase chromatography. For this purpose, an endcapped LiChroCART Superspher RP 18 column with a gradient of ammonium formate and a methanol–water mixture was used. This method gives a limit of detection of between 0.1 and 9.6 pmol for 15 standard nucleosides, depending on the basicity of the nucleoside. Overall, the detection of 36 nucleosides from urine was feasible. It was shown that this auto-LC–MS³ method is a valuable tool for assigning nucleosides from complex biological matrices, and it may be utilized in the diagnosis of diseases associated with disorders in RNA metabolism.     

Solid‐Phase Synthesis of Dipeptide‐Conjugated Nucleosides and Their Interaction with RNA

Dipeptide‐conjugated nucleosides were efficiently synthesized from the intermediates of 3′‐amino‐3′‐deoxy‐nucleosides by using the solid‐phase synthetic strategy with HOBt/HBTU (1‐hydroxy‐1H‐benzotriazole/2‐(1H‐benzotriazol‐1‐yl)‐1,1,3,3‐tetramethyluronium hexafluoroborate) as the coupling reagents (Schemes 1–3). CD Spectra and thermal melting studies showed that the synthesized hydrophobic dipeptide? thymidine and ? uridine derivatives 8a – 8d, 13a – d , and 18 had a mild affinity with the polyA?polyU duplex and could induce the change of RNA conformation. The results also implied that the interaction of conjugates with RNA might be related to the sugar pucker conformation of the nucleoside.     

A short and efficient synthesis of the tRNA nucleosides PreQ0 and archaeosine

Modified nucleosides in tRNAs play an important role in the translational process. They fine tune the codon-anticodon interactions and they influence the folding and stabilisation of the tRNA structure. Herein, we present a novel synthetic route to the highly modified nucleosides PreQ(0) and archaeosine. The synthesis involves coupling of a protected 7-cyano-7-deazaguanosine nucleobase with a TBDMS and isopropylidene protected chloro-ribose unit yielding the PreQ(0) nucleoside after deprotection. This PreQ(0) nucleoside is then used as the starting material for the synthesis of archaeosine providing the first total synthetic access to this hypermodified RNA nucleoside.     

Upregulated plasma and urinary levels of nucleosides as biological markers in the diagnosis of primary gallbladder cancer

We first detected aberrant nucleoside levels in the plasma, urine, bile, and tissues from cases and controls to explore them as biomarkers in the diagnosis of gallbladder cancer. Reversed‐phase high‐performance liquid chromatography was used to assess the levels of ten nucleosides in these samples from gallbladder cancer patients, gallstone patients, and healthy controls. Plasma and urine samples were collected from patients with gallbladder cancer (n = 202), patients with gallstones (n = 203), and healthy controls (n = 205); bile and tissue samples were collected from 91 gallbladder cancer patients, 93 gallstone patients; and 90 were donated after cardiac death. Of the ten nucleosides analyzed, eight urinary nucleosides, five plasma nucleosides, three bile nucleosides, and one tissue nucleoside were significantly upregulated in the gallbladder cancer patients compared to control groups (p < 0.05). Among these upregulated nucleosides, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of urinary nucleosides in the diagnosis of gallbladder cancer patients were 89.4, 97.1, and 95.7%, respectively, those of plasma nucleosides were 91.2, 95.6, and 94.2%, respectively, those of bile nucleosides were 95.3, 96.4, and 95.1%, respectively, and those of tissue nucleosides were 86.2, 93.8, and 92.6%, respectively. These results suggest that nucleosides may be as useful as biological markers for gallbladder cancer.     

A comprehensive evaluation of the kinetic method applied in the determination of the proton affinity of the nucleic acid molecules

The determination of proton affinity (PA) of 2'-deoxyadenosine (dA) is used as a case study for the evaluation of possible drawbacks in the determination of the PA of the nucleic acid molecules by the kinetic method. The observed Delta PA among the different values obtain for dA by applying this procedure in its different extensions was 0.64 Kcal/mol, which is within the uncertainties of any theoretical or experimental approach. It was demonstrated that nucleosides can be generally used as reference compounds to measure the PA of an unknown nucleoside. The evaluation of Delta Delta S value for two competing reaction channels taken by proton-bound heterodimers formed by two nucleosides provides clear information on the reference base which has to be discarded from the set of reference compounds used for the estimation of an unknown PA. The PA of dA obtained with the most elaborated kinetic method (237.00 +/- 0.07 kcal/mol) is consistent with the value of 237.0 kcal/mol obtained by a simple treatment of the relative intensities of the product ions generated by two couples of the proton bound dimers formed by the nucleoside and two reference amines. The kinetic method can be, therefore, confidently used to assess the proton affinity of the multifunctional molecules such as nucleosides and nucleobases.     

Study of normal and modified nucleosides in serum by RP-HPLC

Summary Modified nucleosides derived predominantly from transfer ribonucleic acid (tRNA) have been studied as possible tumor markers. In this paper a reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic (RP-HPLC) method has been applied to study 15 normal and modified nucleosides in serum. The nucleoside levels in normal human serum were established, and the concentrations of 15 nucleosides in serum from 19 cancer patients were determined. It was found that the concentrations of modified nucleosides were significantly higher in patient sera. Based on 15 nucleoside concentrations in serum, factor analysis could classify correctly 90% of cancer patients from the normal humans. Further work showed that urine was slightly better than serum when determining nucleosides as biological marker candidates. More work is ongoing to determine the clinical usefulness of modified nucleosides as tumor markers.     

Synthesis of 2'-O-[2-[(N,N-dimethylamino)oxy]ethyl] modified nucleosides and oligonucleotides.

A versatile synthetic route has been developed for the synthesis of 2'-O-[2-[(N,N-dimethylamino)oxy]ethyl] (abbreviated as 2'-O-DMAOE) modified purine and pyrimidine nucleosides and their corresponding nucleoside phosphoramidites and solid supports. To synthesize 2'-O-DMAOE purine nucleosides, the key intermediate B (Scheme 1) was obtained from the 2'-O-allyl purine nucleosides (13a and 15) via oxidative cleavage of the carbon-carbon bond to the corresponding aldehydes followed by reduction. To synthesize pyrimidine nucleosides, opening the 2,2'-anhydro-5-methyluridine 5 with the borate ester of ethylene glycol gave the key intermediate B. The 2'-O-(2-hydroxyethyl) nucleosides were converted, in excellent yield, by a regioselective Mitsunobu reaction, to the corresponding 2'-O-[2-[(1,3-dihydro-1,3-dioxo-2H-isoindol-2-yl)oxy]ethyl] nucleosides (18, 19, and 20). These compounds were subsequently deprotected and converted into the 2'-O-[2-[(methyleneamino)oxy]ethyl] derivatives (22, 23, and 24). Reduction and a second reductive amination with formaldehyde yielded the corresponding 2'-O-[2-[(N,N-dimethylamino)oxy]ethyl] nucleosides (25, 26, and 27). These nucleosides were converted to their 3'-O-phosphoramidites and controlled-pore glass solid supports in excellent overall yield. Using these monomers, modified oligonucleotides containing pyrimidine and purine bases were synthesized with phosphodiester, phosphorothioate, and both linkages (phosphorothioate and phosphodiester) present in the same oligonucleotide as a chimera in high yields. The oligonucleotides were characterized by HPLC, capillary gel electrophoresis, and ESMS. The effect of this modification on the affinity of the oligonucleotides for complementary RNA and on nuclease stability was evaluated. The 2'-O-DMAOE modification enhanced the binding affinity of the oligonucleotides for the complementary RNA (and not for DNA). The modified oligonucleotides that possessed the phosphodiester backbone demonstrated excellent resistance to nuclease with t(1/2) > 24 h.     

2′‐Ethynyl‐DNA: Synthesis and Pairing Properties

2‐Ethynyl‐DNA was developed as a potential DNA‐selective oligonucleotide analog. The synthesis of 2′‐arabino‐ethynyl‐modified nucleosides was achieved starting from properly protected 2′‐ketonucleosides by addition of lithium (trimethylsilyl)acetylide followed by reduction of the tertiary alcohol. After a series of protecting‐group manipulations, phosphoramidite building blocks suitable for solid‐phase synthesis were obtained. The synthesis of oligonucleotides from these building blocks was successful when a fast deprotection scheme was used. The pairing properties of 2′‐arabino‐ethynyl‐modified oligonucleotides can be summarized as follows: 1) The 2′‐arabino‐ethynyl modification of pyrimidine nucleosides leads to a strong destabilization in duplexes with DNA as well as with RNA. The likely reason is that the ethynyl group sterically influences the torsional preferences around the glycosidic bond leading to a conformation not suitable for duplex formation. 2) If the modification is introduced in purine nucleosides, no such influence is observed. The pairing properties are not or only slightly changed, and, in some cases (deoxyadenosine homo‐polymers), the desired stabilization of the pairing with a DNA complementary strand and destabilization with an RNA complement is observed. 3) In oligonucleotides of alternating deoxycytidine‐deoxyguanosine sequence, the incorporation of 2′‐arabino‐ethynyl deoxyguanosine surprisingly leads to the formation of a left‐handed double helix, irrespective of salt concentration. The rationalization for this behavior is that the ethynyl group locks such duplexes in a left‐handed conformation through steric blockade.     

The influence of the mobile phase pH and the stationary phase type on the selectivity tuning in high performance liquid chromatography nucleosides separation

Analysis of the modified nucleosides is particularly important in the medical area because of a possibility of cancerogenic processes studies. The aim of this work was to study the selectivity tuning of modified nucleosides through the investigations of interactions analyte (modified nucleoside) <==> stationary phase <==> mobile phase. A series of homemade stationary phases with different surface properties has been utilized. All of them contain various interaction sites such as: cholesterol (SG-CHOL); n-acylamide (SG-CHOL, SG-AP); aminopropyl (SG-CHOL, SG-AP, SG-NH2, SG-MIX); cyanopropyl, phenyl, octyl (SG-MIX), octadecyl (SG-MIX, SG-C18) and silanols localized on the silica gel surface of all packings. The attempt to predict the main interactions responsible for the retention between nucleosides and stationary phase ligands was done on the basis of the elemental analysis, and proportional part of an individual ligand bonded to silica surface results. In order to study the influence of different packing types on the analyzed nucleosides retention, the relationship between pH of the mobile phase buffer and the selectivity of a stationary phase was investigated.     

Design,Synthesis, and Characterization of Photolabeling Probes for the Study of the Mechanisms of the Antiviral Effects of Ribavirin

Ribavirin, the only small molecule available so far for treating hepatitis‐C‐virus infection, was recently used in an emergency context to treat patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in the early stages of the disease. To study the mechanisms responsible for the antiviral effects of ribavirin by using a photolabeling approach, we designed, synthesized, and characterized the azidotriazole nucleosides 1 and 2 as photolabeling probes of ribavirin. These probes were synthesized either by performing nucleophilic substitution of the corresponding bromotriazole nucleoside with NaN₃ (Scheme 2) or by directly coupling the azidotriazole with the protected ribose sugar (Scheme 4). The azidotriazole nucleosides 1 and 2 showed a fast, clear‐cut photochemical reaction, which suggests that they are promising candidates for use in photolabeling studies.     

A Direct Synthesis for a New Series of 2‐Oxo(thioxo)nicotinonitrile Nucleosides as Antimicrobial Agents

A facile synthesis of a new series of cyclic and acyclic nucleosides of polyfunctionalized 2‐oxo(thioxo)nicotinonitrile derivatives 1 and 2 was performed. Glycosylation of 2‐pyridone 1 and 2‐thiopyridone 2 with glycosyl/galactosyl bromides in the existence of KOH afforded the N‐nucleoside and S‐nucleoside analogues 3 , 5 , 7 , and 9 , respectively. Deacetylation of nucleosides 3 , 5 , 7 , and 9 gave the deacetylated nucleosides 4 , 6 , 8 , and 10 , respectively. Alkylation of 2‐pyridone 1 with glycone analogues [namely, 4‐bromobutyl acetate, (2‐acetoxyethoxy)methyl bromide, 3‐chloropropane‐1,2‐diol, and allyl and / propargyl bromides] in the existence of K₂CO₃ afforded the corresponding O‐acyclic nucleoside analogues 11 , 13 , and 15–17 , respectively. Finally, treating of compounds 11 and 13 with a small amount of Et₃N tolerated the 6‐hydroxy deacetylated derivatives 12 and 14 , respectively. The synthesized nucleosides and alkylated products were tested against Gram (+ve) (Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus) and (Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli) as Gram (?ve) and Fungi (Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus niger) and showed moderate antibacterial and antifungal activity.     

Evaluation of Novel Third‐Strand Bases for the Recognition of a C⋅G Base Pair in the Parallel DNA Triple‐Helical Binding Motif

We describe the synthesis and the incorporation into oligonucleotides of the novel nucleoside building blocks 9, 10 , and 16 , carrying purine‐like double H‐bond‐acceptor bases. These base‐modified nucleosides were conceived to recognize selectively a cytosine⋅guanine (C⋅G) inversion site within a homopurine⋅homopyrimidine DNA duplex, when constituent of a DNA third strand designed to bind in the parallel binding motif. While building block 16 turned out to be incompatible with standard oligonucleotide‐synthesis conditions, UV/triplex melting experiments with third‐strand 15‐mers containing β‐D ‐nucleoside 6 (from 9 ) showed that recognition of the four natural Watson‐Crick base pairs follows the order G⋅C≈C⋅G>A⋅T>T⋅A. The recognition is sequence‐context sensitive, and G⋅C or C⋅G recognition does not involve protonated species of β‐D ‐nucleoside 6 . The data obtained fit (but do not prove) a structural model for C⋅G recognition via one conventional and one C−H⋅⋅⋅O H‐bond. The unexpected G⋅C recognition is best explained by third‐strand base intercalation. A comparison of the triplex binding properties of these new bases with those of 4‐deoxothymine (5‐methylpyrimidine‐2(1H)‐one, ^{4 H}T), previously shown to be C⋅G selective but energetically weak, is also described.     

Sorption of uranium(VI) on Na-attapulgite as a function of contact time,solid content,pH, ionic strength,temperature and humic acid

Sorption of U(VI) from aqueous solution to Na-attapulgite was investigated at different experimental chemistry conditions by using batch technique. The attapulgite sample was characterized by FTIR and XRD. Sorption of U(VI) on attapulgite was strongly dependent on pH and ionic strength. The sorption of U(VI) on attapulgite increased quickly with rising pH at pH < 6, and decreased with increasing pH at pH > 7. The presence of humic acid (HA) enhanced the sorption of U(VI) on attapulgite obviously at low pH because of the strong complexation of surface adsorbed HA with U(VI) on attapulgite surface. Sorption of U(VI) on attapulgite was mainly dominated by ion exchange and/or outer-sphere surface complexation at low pH values, whereas the sorption was attributed to the inner-sphere surface complexation or precipitation at high pH values. The sorption increased with increasing temperature and the thermodynamic parameters calculated from the temperature dependent sorption isotherms suggested that the sorption of U(VI) on attapulgite was a spontaneous and endothermic process. The results indicate that attapulgite is a very suitable material for the preconcentration of U(VI) ions from large volumes of aqueous solutions.     

A Nucleobase‐Discriminating Pyrrolo‐dC Click Adduct Designed for DNA Fluorescence Mismatch Sensing

New pyrrolo‐dC click adducts ( 4 and 5 ) tethered with a 1,2,3‐triazole skeleton were synthesized and oligonucleotides were prepared. The triazole system was either directly linked to the pyrrolo moiety ( 5 ) or connected via an n‐butyl linker ( 4 ). The quantum yield of nucleoside 5 (Φ=0.32), which is 10 times higher than those of 8‐methylpyrrolo‐dC ( 1 b , Φ=0.026) or the long linker derivative 4 (Φ=0.03), is maintained in oligonucleotides. Compound 5 was used as a nucleobase‐discriminating fluorescence sensor in duplex DNA. Excellent mismatch discrimination was observed when 5 was positioned opposite the four canonical nucleosides. Compound 5 has the potential to be used for SNP detection in long DNA targets when conventional techniques such as high resolution melt analysis fail.     

High Performance Liquid Chromatography of Nucleosides in RNA and DNA

Abstract

Reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography has been developed and used effectively as a research tool for the quantitative analysis of major and modified nucleosides present in RNAs, DNAs, and physiological fluids. Gehrke et al. (5, 6, 24, 28) have shown that RP-HPLC is especially well suited for the analysis of the array of modified nucleosides found in tRNA, as more than forty nucleosides can be resolved and quantitatively determined in a single analysis. Coupled with our rapid, quantitative and straightforward enzymatic hydrolysis protocol, RP-HPLC compositional analyses can be directly performed on microgram quantities of either unfractionated or isoaccepting tRNAs. This method is applicable to the comparison of nucleoside compositions of tRNAs from parental and mutant organisms. In addition, Gehrke and Kuo (31, 33) have developed a highly precise RP-HPLC method for the analysis of the methylated nucleoside present in DNA, 5-methyldeoxycytidine, which has been used in collaborative research to measure differences in the extent of methylation of DNA from a range of cell and tissue types and DNA sequences. The deoxyribonucleoside 3′-and 5′-monophosphates, including pm⁵dC, are also well resolved by RP-HPLC, and this separation technique should prove of value in studies on sequence methylation in DNA. RP-HPLC analysis preceded by boronate gel selective isolation of ribonucleosides gives an effective technique for the analysis of ribonucleosides in physiological fluids, and a number of publications show that urinary nucleoside levels can serve as useful indicators of neoplastic disease status.     

Direct Electron Transfer of Glucose Oxidase and Glucose Biosensor Based on Nano-structural Attapulgite Clay Matrix

The direct electrochemistry of glucose oxidase (GOD) was achieved based on the immobilization of GOD on a natural nano‐structural attapulgite (ATP) clay film modified glassy carbon (GC) electrode. The immobilized GOD displayed a pair of well‐defined quasi‐reversible redox peaks with a formal potential (E^0′) of ?457.5 mV (vs. SCE) in 0.1 mol·L^?1 pH 7.0 phosphate buffer solution. The peak current was linearly dependent on the scan rate, indicating that the direct electrochemistry of GOD in that case was a surface‐controlled process. The immobilized glucose oxidase could retain bioactivity and catalyze the oxidation of glucose in the presence of ferrocene monocarboxylic acid (FMCA) as a mediator with the apparent Michaelis‐Menten constant K^app_m of 1.16 mmol·L^?1. The electrocatalytic response showed a linear dependence on the glucose concentration ranging widely from 5.0×10^?6 to 6.0×10^?4 mol·L^?1 (with correlation coefficient of 0.9960). This work demonstrated that the nano‐structural attapulgite clay was a good candidate material for the direct electrochemistry of the redox‐active enzyme and the construction of the related enzyme biosensors. The proposed biosensors were applied to determine the glucose in blood and urine samples with satisfactory results.     

Stereoselective Synthesis of D‐ and L‐Carbocyclic Nucleosides by Enzymatically Catalyzed Kinetic Resolution

An efficient synthesis of (S)‐ or (R)‐3‐(benzyloxy‐methyl)‐cyclopent‐3‐enol was developed by appling an enzyme‐catalyzed kinetic‐resolution approach. This procedure allowed the syntheses of the enantiomeric building blocks (S)‐ and (R)‐cyclopentenol with high optical purity (>98 % ee). In contrast to previous approaches, the key advantage of this procedure is that the resolution is done on the level of enantiomers that only contain one stereogenic center. Owing to this feature, it was possible to chemically convert the enantiomers into each other. By using this route, the starting materials for the syntheses of carbocyclic D ‐ and L ‐nucleoside analogues were readily accessible. 3′,4′‐Unsaturated D ‐ or L ‐carbocyclic nucleosides were obtained from the condensation of various nucleobases with (S)‐ or (R)‐cyclopentenol. Functionalization of the double bond in 3′‐deoxy‐3′,4′‐didehydro‐carba‐D ‐thymidine led to a variety of new nucleoside analogues. By using the cycloSal approach, their corresponding phosphorylated metabolites were readily accessable. Moreover, a new synthetic route to carbocyclic 2′‐deoxy‐nucleosides was developed, thereby leading to D ‐ and L ‐carba‐dT. D ‐Carba‐dT was tested for antiviral activity against multidrug‐resistance HIV‐1 strain E2‐2 and compared to the known antiviral agent d4T, as well as L ‐carba‐dT. Whilst L ‐carba‐dT was found to be inactive, its D ‐analogue showed remarkably high activity against the resistant virus and significantly better than that of d4T. However, against the wild‐type virus strain NL4/3, d4T was found to be more‐active than D ‐carba‐dT.