Nucleic acids and their protein partners

Current Opinion in Structural Biology

Volume 18, Issue 3, June 2008, Pages 279-281

Synthesis of a l-lysine-based alternate alpha,epsilon-peptide: A novel linear polycation with nucleic acids-binding ability
2010, International Journal of Pharmaceutics
A novel nucleic acid compaction device based on a positively-charged alpha,epsilon-poly-l-lysine was realized for the first time. The polycationic peptide was obtained by assembling Fmoc and Boc orthogonally protected l-lysine monomers by solid phase synthesis. The route to the novel polycation is very fast and convenient because it allows for the obtainment of the desired product in few synthetic steps exclusively employing Fmoc chemistry. The purification of the poly-amino acid was performed easily by RP-HPLC on C18 stationary phase while ESI-MS analysis confirmed the identity of the novel basic molecule. The structural characteristics of the novel water-soluble peptide, as well as the interaction with deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA) have been investigated by circular dichroism (CD) and ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy.
HISNAPI: A bioinformatic tool for dynamic hot spot analysis in nucleic acid-protein interface with a case study
2021, Briefings in Bioinformatics
RNA-binding and viral reverse transcriptase inhibitory activity of a novel cationic diamino acid-based peptide
2011, Journal of Medicinal Chemistry

^*: The Puglisi lab studies the role of RNA structure and dynamics in cellular processes and disease.

^†: The Doudna lab studies the molecular mechanisms of RNA-controlled gene expression.