Science, Space and Technology News 2024
Groundbreaking research has led to the creation of threofuranosyl nucleic acid , offering enhanced stability and therapeutic potential, with applications in drug delivery and diagnostics. Credit: SciTechDaily.comcarries the genetic information of all living organisms and consists of only four different building blocks, the nucleotides. Nucleotides are composed of three distinctive parts: a sugar molecule, a phosphate group, and one of the four nucleobases adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine.
For the study, the 5-carbon sugar deoxyribose, which forms the backbone in DNA, was replaced by a 4-carbon sugar. In addition, the number of nucleobases was increased from four to six. By exchanging the sugar, the TNA is not recognized by the cell’s own degradation enzymes. This has been a problem with nucleic acid-based therapeutics, as synthetically produced RNA that is introduced into a cell is rapidly degraded and loses its effect.
“In addition, the built-in unnatural base pair enables alternative binding options to target molecules in the cell,” added Hannah Depmeier, lead author of the study. Kath-Schorr is certain that such a function can be used in particular in the development of new aptamers, short DNA or RNA sequences, which can be used for the targeted control of cellular mechanisms. TNAs could also be used for the targeted transport of drugs to specific organs in the body as well as in diagnostics; they could also be useful for the recognition of viral proteins or biomarkers.
Reference: “Expanding the Horizon of the Xeno Nucleic Acid Space: Threose Nucleic Acids with Increased Information Storage” by Hannah Depmeier and Stephanie Kath-Schorr, 5 March 2024,SciTechDaily: Home of the best science and technology news since 1998. Keep up with the latest scitech news via email or social media.A new species and genus of fairy lantern, tiny glass-like white plants that feed on fungi, has been discovered in Japan.
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