NUCLEIC ACIDS
[STEM 11 - A : Shem Panganiban · Jericho Posa · Lorenz Tao · Julieta Cruz-am · Arielle Estrella ·
Danica Panin · Lois Recalcar · Francine Talamera]
Important large biomolecules that carry the “code of life”
Discovered by Friedrich Miescher in 1868
named because they were originally isolated from the cell nuclei of a white blood cell
acidic in nature
found in all living beings including virus
Functions of nucleic acids:
1. Nucleic acids carry the instructions for the chracteristics passed on to the offspring
2. Responsible for protein synthesis
Types of nucleic acids:
1. Ribonucleic acid (RNA) - single-helix structure, genetic material for certain viruses,
and serves as catalysts
2. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) - double-helix structure, carry the genetic
information
Central Dogma of Molecular Biology
- proposed by Francis Crick & James Watson
- states that the flow of genetic information is "DNA to RNA to protein"
- has 3 stages: Replicaction, Transcription, and Translation
Replication - is the process by which DNA makes a copy of itself during cell division
1. DNA Unzipping - the enzyme helicase breaks the hydrogen bonds holding the
complementary bases of DNA together (A with T, C with G)
Single-stranded binding proteins – prevents the separated strands to
come back together
Topoisomerase – stops the DNA from supercoiling
2. Replicating the DNA molecule to build a new strand
DNA polymerase - enzyme that builds the new strand
3. Sealing of DNA sequence - performed by the enzyme ligase
Transcription - is the process by which the information in a strand of DNA is copied into
a new molecule of messenger RNA (mRNA)
1. Initiation: RNA polymerase binds to DNA
DNA is transcribed by an enzyme called RNA polymerase that attaches to the DNA at a
specificarea called the promoter region. The DNA in the promoter region contains specific
sequences that allow RNA polymerase to bind to the DNA.
2. Elongation- certain enzymes called transcription factors unwind the DNA strand and allow
RNA polymerase to transcribe only a single strand of DNA into a single-stranded RNA polymer
called messenger RNA (mRNA).
3. Termination - RNA polymerase moves along the DNA until it reaches a terminator sequence.
At that point, RNA polymerase releases the mRNA polymer and detaches from the DNA
Translation - is a process by which the genetic code contained within an mRNA molecule is
decoded to produce the specific sequence of amino acids in a polypeptide chain.
1) The ribosome binds to mRNA at a specific area
2) The ribosome starts matching tRNA anticodon sequences to the mRNA codon sequence.
3) Each time a new tRNA comes into the ribosome, the amino acid that it was carrying gets
added to the elongating polypeptide chain.
4) The ribosome continues until it hits a stop sequence, then it releases the polypeptide and the
mRNA.
5) The polypeptide forms into its native shape and starts acting as a functional protein in the
cell.
Chemical composition & structure:
made of polynucleotides— chainlike molecules
composed of a series of nearly identical building blocks
called nucleotides
RNA and DNA are composed of different nucleotides
1. Nitrogen Bases
a. Pyrimidines - one-ringed base
b. Purines - two-ringed base
Chargaff’s rule of base pairing -states that DNA should
have a 1:1 ratio of pyrimidine and purine bases
amount of guanine = amount of cytosine
amount of adenine = amount of thymine
2. Pentose Sugar
a. Ribose - a "normal" sugar, with one oxygen
atom attached to each carbon atom
b. Deoxyribose - is a modified sugar, lacking
one oxygen atom
3. Phosphate Group
phosphodiester bonds - the linkage between the 3' carbon atom of one sugar molecule and
the 5' carbon atom of another, deoxyribose in DNA and ribose in RNA
Recommended Dietary Allowance:
According to Dr. Kleiner, a senior scientist from the International Life Science Institute in
Europe, it is recommended that there should not be more than 2 g of nucleic acids introduced
into the diet of adults by single cell proteins.
The daily dietary intake of nucleic acids for Japanese adults is estimated to be 500-900mg/day;
whereas the intake for Americans is 1,000-2,000mg/day.
Sources of nucleic acids:
Seafood: Fish and sardines have the highest levels of
nucleic acids, but it isn't only animal-based foods that
are good sources of nucleic acids. Chlorella is plant-
based edible algae that is also high in nucleic acid.
Nuts: A strong source of nucleic acids, as well as possessing high protein
and unsaturated fats, which can aid with the prevention of heart
problems.
Vegetables: A positive addition to any diet, vegetables can be high sources of nucleic acids, particularly Chinese
cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, beans and broccoli.
Mushrooms: mushrooms are among the foods that are high in nucleic
acids, especially flat, whitecap and oyster mushrooms.
Meat: Animal muscles are naturally high in nucleic acids, so chicken and
red meat, such as beef and pork, are great sources.
Nucleic Acid Disorders:
Hyperuricemia -is an excess of uric acid in blood.
-increased levels of uric acid from excess purines may accumulate in tissues and form crystals.
Normal Uric Acid levels are:
Female= 2.4-6.0 mg/dl
Male= 3.4-7.0 mg/dl
*Uric acid is the end product of purine metabolism in humans.
Two types of Hyperuricemia:
Primary (increased uric acid levels due to purine)
Secondary (high uric acid levels due to another disease or conditions)
a. Gout -also called gouty arthritis
-affects any joint in the body but often
first appear in large toe, feet, ankles,
knees and elbows.
-symptoms include severe pain in the
joints, joint stiffness, difficulty in moving the
affected joints and also redness and swelling.
b. Kidney Stones - uric acid crystals can cause a build up
of stones in the kidneys.
-symptoms may include the following:
Nausea
Increased urge to urinate
Pain when urinating
Blood in Urine
Hypouricemia - defined as a serum urate concentration of less than 2mg/ml
- caused by decrease in the uric acid production
