Abstract
FOR an understanding at the molecular level of the stability and interactions of nucleic acids, including the mechanisms of mutational events, the thermodynamic characteristics of base-pair formation must be determined1. The most fundamental expression of these characteristics relates to the interaction in vacuo. We describe here the measurement of binding enthalpy of a single base pair from various combinations of bases in vacuo. We used pyrimidine bases methylated at the 1 position and purine bases methylated at the 9 position. As expected2,3, the results obtained differ appreciably from those of earlier experiments4 on solutions, involving indirect methods of observing base pairing.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Watson, J. D., and Crick, F. H. C., Nature, 171, 737 (1953).
Danilov, V. I., and Kudritskaya, Z. G., Stud. biophys., 55, 73 (1976).
Poltev, V. I., and Sukhorukov, B. I., Biofizika, 12, 763 (1967); ibid., 13, 941 (1968).
Kyogoku, Y., Lord, R. C., and Rich, A., J. Am. chem. Soc., 89, 496 (1967); Biochim. biophys. Acta, 179, 10 (1969).
Yanson, I. K., and Sukhodub, L. F., Dokl. Akad. Nauk. U.S.S.R., 223, 1010 (1975).
Mass spektrometriya i eye primenenie v organicheskoi khimii, 488 (translated from Beinon, J., Mass Spectrometry and its Application in Organic Chemistry) (izd, Mir. Moscow, 1964).
Yanson, I. K., Verkin, B. I., Shklyarevski, O. I., and Teplitskii, A. B., Studia Biophys., 46, 29 (1974).
Eigen, M., Self-organization of Matter and the Evolution of Biological Macromolecules (Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, 1971).
Johnstone, R. A. W., Mass Spectrometry for Organic Chemists, 26-31, 228 (Cambridge University Press, 1972).
Küchler, E., and Derkosch, J., Z. Naturforsch., 216, 209 (1966).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
SUKHODUB, L., YANSON, I. Mass spectrometric studies of binding energies for nitrogen bases of nucleic acids in vacuo. Nature 264, 245–247 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/264245a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/264245a0
This article is cited by
-
Hydration scheme of the purine and pyrimidine bases and base-pairs of the nucleic acids
Theoretica Chimica Acta (1979)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
