Fluorescent pteridine-based nucleoside analogs that can be site-specifically incorporated into DNA oligonucleotides through a phosphodiester linkage have been developed and patented. The fluorescence properties of a series of these compounds have been characterized and potential applications are being investigated. These new fluorophores are promising probes for the study of protein/DNA interactions, because they are not attached to DNA externally and they do not appear to disrupt the tertiary structure of DNA. Rapid fluorescence-based assays for HIV-1 integrase and alkylguanine-DNA-akyltransferase have been developed, and the utility of these fluorophores as hybridization probes has been patented and is under investigation. A number of collaborative studies investigating the potential applications of these new research tools are also underway, and the probes have been licensed by Trilink Technologies and are commercially available.
| Hawkins, Mary E (2007) Synthesis, purification and sample experiment for fluorescent pteridine-containing DNA: tools for studying DNA interactive systems. Nat Protoc 2:1013-21 |
| Turingan, Rosemary S; Liu, Cuihua; Hawkins, Mary E et al. (2007) Structural confirmation of a bent and open model for the initiation complex of T7 RNA polymerase. Biochemistry 46:1714-23 |
| Hawkins, Mary E; Balis, Frank M (2004) Use of pteridine nucleoside analogs as hybridization probes. Nucleic Acids Res 32:e62 |
