NucleicAcidsStructureandFunction NucleicAcidsStructureandFunction

Dr. Atif H. Khirelsied Department of Biochemistry p y Faculty of Medicine International University of Africa y
atifkhirelsied@gmail

Thelearningobjectives g j
Bytheendofthissessionthestudentshouldbeableto: By the end of this session the student should be able to:
1. 1 2. 3. 3 4. 5. OutlinethemolecularstructureofDNAandRNA. Outline the molecular structure of DNA and RNA Explainthesignificanceofspecificbasepairing. DefinethemainpropertiesofDNA. D fi th i ti f DNA Definethecentraldogmaofmolecularbiology. Distinguishbetweensingle strandedanddoublestranded nucleicacids. 6. ExplainthemeaningofdenaturationandreannealingofDNA. 6 E l i h i fd i d li f DNA

Thedeoxyribonucleicacid(DNA) The deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)

DNA: is the repertoire of the genetic information DNA:istherepertoire ofthegeneticinformation. It is the principal regulator of the cell physiology Itistheprincipalregulator ofthecellphysiology. DNAcontainstheinstructionsforcreationand functioning oftheorganism,itactsas; of the organism it acts as; Templateforreplication. Codesforproteins.

Thecentraldogmaofmolecularbiology

TheWatsonCrickstructureofDNA

TheWatsonCrickstructureofDNA
1. Itisadoublestrandedrighthanded helix. helix 2. Eachstrandis isapolymerof2 . ach strand is is a polymer of deoxyribonucleotideslinkedby3' 5'phosphodiesterlinks. 3. Thenitrogenousbasesinthe nucleotidesofDNAareA,G,C,T. nucleotides of DNA are A G C T 4. Thebasesinthetwocomplementary p y strandsarespecificallypairedandheld togetherbyhydrogenbonds.

TheWatsonCrickstructureofDNA
5. Thetwostrandsarepolar andanti parallel . 6. Thebasesareplanner and The bases are planner and perpendicular totheaxisoftheDNA molecules. 7. ThewidthoftheDNAmoleculesis2nm (20A ),andtheheightofthehelical (20 A) and the height of the helical turnis3.4nm(34A). 8. Thegeneticinformationresidesinthe sequenceofbasesintheDNAstrands.

TheWatsonCrickstructureofDNA

ThestructureofDNA
DNAexistsascircularmoleculeinsomeorganismssuchas bacteria,bacteriophages,andmanyDNAcontaininganimal viruses. viruses

Chromosome(DNA)ofeukaryotic

CircularDNAmoleculeofbacteria

DNAdenaturationof
Denaturation isthe meltingofdoublestranded DNAtogeneratetwosingle DNA t t t i l strands.

ThedenaturationofDNA
Denaturationmayresultfrom: HeatingaboveitsTm. HighpH Organicsolvents (dimethyl sulfoxide). Loweringthesaltconc.oftheDNAsolution g ViscosityofDNAsolutionsdecreasesondenaturation. y Hyperchromicity (increased absorbance of UV on Hyperchromicity(increasedabsorbanceofUVon denaturation)

The ReannealingofDNA
R Reannealingisthereformationofthedoublestranded li i th f ti f th d bl t d d DNA. ViscosityofDNAsolutionsincreasesonreannealing. Hyporchromicity (decreasedabsorbanceofUVon reannealing)

TheRNAstructurediffersfromthatofDNA
TheRNAsarepolymersofribonucleotides linkedtogetherby 3'5'phosphodiester bonds.

RNAssharemanystructuralfeatureswithDNAbuthavesome specificcharacteristics,theseare:
it is usually single rather than double stranded itisusuallysingleratherthandoublestranded itcontainsriboseratherthandeoxyribose it contains the base uracil rather than thymine itcontainsthebaseuracil ratherthanthymine

ThetypesofRNA yp
1. MessengerRNAs(mRNAs). 1 M RNA ( RNA ) ( ) 2. TransferRNAs(tRNAs). 3. RibosomalRNAs(rRNAs).
Prokaryotesand eukaryotes

4. 4 smallnuclearRNA(snRNA). ll l RNA ( RNA) 5. microRNA (miRNA).

Onlyineukaryotes Only in eukaryotes

6. smallinterferingRNA(siRNA)

ThemessengerRNA(mRNA) g ( )
Heterogeneousinsizeandstability. Carriesthecodons specifyingaminoacidsequencesin proteins Actastemplates forproteinsynthesis.

EukaryoticmRNAshaveseveraluniqueproperties y q p p
1. The5'terminaliscappedby7methylguanosine 1 Th 5' t i l i db 7 th l i
triphosphate.

2. Haspoly(A)tailinthe3'terminals.

7mG AAAAAAA mRNA

EukaryoticmRNAshaveseveraluniqueproperties y q p p

Eukaryotics issynthesizedaspremRNA(heteronuclear RNA) whichcontaininterveningregions(Introns).

TransferRNA(tRNA)
They are the smallest RNAs TheyarethesmallestRNAs. Fold into tertiary structure by Foldintotertiarystructureby formationofintramolecularbase pairs. Havecloverleafshape(hairpin). Transferaminoacidsintothe ribosomes. ribosomes Act as an adaptor molecule. Actasanadaptormolecule.

RibosomalRNA(rRNA)
Have structural and catalytic functions. Havestructuralandcatalyticfunctions.

Theyhavearibozyme function,the28SrRNAcatalyze thesynthesisofpeptidebonds(peptidyl transferase).

RibosomalRNA(rRNA)
Itisanucleoproteinparticle. Themammalianribosome, hasasedimentationvelocity of80S(Svedbergunits). C i Consistsoflarge60Sand fl 60S d small40Ssubunits.

SmallnuclearRNA(snRNA)
Alargenumberofhighlyconservedsmallstablemolecules ofRNAfoundineukaryoticcells. Themajorityofthemexistsasnucleoproteinsdistributedin boththenucleusandthecytosol. TheyareinvolvedinmRNAprocessingandgeneregulation.

microRNA (miRNA)
AreshortRNAmoleculesfoundineukaryoticcells. Haveveryfewnucleotides(anaverageof22)comparedwith otherRNAs. h Havemultiplerolesinregulationofgeneexpression. Have multiple roles in regulation of gene expression

SmallinterferingRNA (siRNA)
AlsoknownasshortinterferingRNAorsilencingRNA g g AredoublestrandedRNAmolecules Have2025nucleotidesinlength Theyinterferewiththeexpressionofaspecificgene.