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Chemical probes for tRNA tertiary structure
Author(s) -
Barciszewski J.,
Romby P.,
Ebel J.P.,
Giegé R.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/0014-5793(82)80789-8
Subject(s) - nitrosourea , nucleic acid , alkylation , chemistry , transfer rna , reagent , protein tertiary structure , nucleophile , stereochemistry , biochemistry , rna , organic chemistry , biology , gene , genetics , chemotherapy , catalysis
The tertiary structure of tRNA in solution can be proved by chemical modification experiments. Three reagents, N ‐ethyl‐ N ‐nitrosourea, N ‐methyl‐ N ‐nitrosourea and dimethylsulfate which are known to alkylate nucleic acids at nucleophilic centers were compared. It is found that N ‐ethyl‐ N ‐nitrosourea and N ‐methyl‐ N ‐nitrosourea mainly react with phosphate residues and dimethylsulfate only with the bases. With dimethylsulfate the extent of alkylation of guanosines is about one order of magnitude higher than that of the phosphates by the nitrosocompounds.