Physics NotePublished
Influence of the Hypermodified Y Base on the A•U Pairing in Codon-Anticodon Interaction
M. O. Neto; Myriam Segre de Giambiagi; Mario Giambiagi
1997
Publication details
- Authors
- M. O. Neto; Myriam Segre de Giambiagi; Mario Giambiagi
- Type
- Physics Note
- Status
- Published
- Publication date
- 1997
- Description
- The presence of a hypermodified basis adjacent to the 3' anticodon terminal in tRNAs plays an important role in the genetic code reading mechanism. We employ the AM1 Hamiltonian for our calculations. We show here that, when the first uracil of codon UUC binds to adenine 36 of anticodon GAA, dramatic conformational variations occur in the side chain of the hypermodified Y base in position 37 of <math> tRNA^{Phe}\,\!</math>. A hydrogen bond is found to be built between one of the carboxylic oxygens in the Y side chain and one of the amino group hydrogens in adenine; this confers to <math> A \bullet U \,\!</math> the stabilization energy of <math> G \bullet C \,\!</math>. The calculated group-group indices and molecular valences agree with these features, yielding a simple chemical pattern. It is hence suggested that this significant stabilization of the <math> A \bullet U \,\!</math> pair, due to the presence of the Y base, may prevent misreading in the genetic code.
- Year
- 1997
- Number
- CBPF-NF-074/97
- Linked to a thesis
- No
- Linked to a grant
- No