Reaction of Adenine-specific Antibodies with Denatured Deoxyribonucleic Acid

Abstract

AT the present time there is no doubt regarding the role of nucleic acids in carrying genetic information, and their participation in protein synthesis and other biological events is now well known¹. There is therefore considerable biochemical and genetical importance in the availability of specific antibodies capable of reacting with nucleic acids. The production of such antibodies has been described recently as the result of immunization with DNA that had been complexed with methylated bovine serum albumin², by coupling periodate-oxidized nucleotides or nucleosides to proteins³, or by binding uridine-5′-carboxylic acid to a synthetic polypeptide⁴. Such data promise to make the specificity and sensitivity of immunochemical procedures, which have been of great value in the study of other polymers such as polysaccharides and proteins⁵, similarly available for an analysis of nucleic acids.