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Frontispiece: Chimeric XNA: An Unconventional Design for Orthogonal Informational Systems
Author(s) -
Efthymiou Tim,
Gavette Jesse,
Stoop Matthias,
De Riccardis Francesco,
Froeyen Mathy,
Herdewijn Piet,
Krishnamurthy Ramanarayanan
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.201884964
Subject(s) - rna , base pair , oligonucleotide , dna , nucleobase , nucleic acid , pairing , nucleotide , duplex (building) , computational biology , chemistry , biology , genetics , stereochemistry , biochemistry , gene , physics , superconductivity , quantum mechanics
Construction of xeno nucleic acids (XNAs) has relied on RNA and DNA as models and, therefore, they contain strictly homogenous backbone repeat units with any deviations leading to detrimental results. Furthermore, insertion of nucleotide residues of XNA systems that lack base pairing, into RNA (DNA) generally compromises duplex strengths. In their Full Paper on page 12811 ff., R. Krishnamurthy et al. show, unexpectedly, that nucleotide‐residues of non‐base pairing (or weakly base pairing) XNAs, such as ribuloNA (isoGNA), can be “blended” with RNA (DNA) residues in specified patterns to produce dimeric‐ and trimeric‐backbone oligonucleotide systems (ribuloNA‐RNA, isoGNA‐RNA and ribuloNA‐RNA‐isoGNA), which are perfectly capable of forming orthogonal duplexes exhibiting unusual base pairing behavior and unorthodox properties. This paradigm of expanded dimeric‐backbone repeat unit suggests a counterintuitive method of using (non‐base pairing) XNAs with RNA/DNA in a set pattern for inventing libraries of diverse and unconventional orthogonal chimeric systems (heterogeneity in backbone and nucleobase repeat units), where now the information for a given oligonucleotide is encoded both by the sequence of backbone and the nucleobase.