Biopolymers: Protein and Nucleic Acids

Abstract

The work focuses on learning the principles that govern interactions between proteins and nucleic acids both DNA and RNA (specifically tRNA). With these principles as guides we are synthesizing peptides (of about 50 amino acids) that bind to specific regions of DNA. Various reactive functionalities are being attached to the synthetic peptides to generate reagents that cleave DNA specifically at the site to which the peptide binds. The work also involves biophysical studies of the protein/nucleic acid complexes in order to expand our understanding of the principles of protein binding to nucleic acids. Development of improved procedures for the chemical synthesis of peptides forms another important aspect of the program. Keywords: Molecule interactions; Synthesis chemistry; Protein-DNA binding; Peptide synthesis; DNA Cleavage; NMR of proteins and nucleic acids; tRNA Specificity.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 15, 1988
Accession Number
ADA198994

Entities

People

  • John H. Richards
  • John N. Abelson
  • Lee H. Hood
  • Melvin I. Simon
  • Peter B. Dervan

Organizations

  • California Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Amino Acids
  • Chemical Compounds
  • Chemical Synthesis
  • Chemistry
  • Efficiency
  • Engineering
  • Ligation
  • Molecules
  • Mutant Proteins
  • Nucleic Acids
  • Peptide Growth Factors
  • Peptides
  • Proteins
  • Recognition
  • Recombinases
  • Sequence Analysis
  • Spectra

Fields of Study

  • Biology
  • Chemistry

Readers

  • Molecular Genetics
  • Nanocomposite Materials Science

Technology Areas

  • Biotechnology