title: Are there structural analogies between amino acids and nucleic acids?
abstract: Space-filling molecular models have been used to examine structural analogies between amino acids and nucleic acids. The three-dimensional structures of amino acid R groups appear to be stereochemically related to cavities formed by removal of single bases in double helical nucleic acids. The common L amino acids may thus be complementary to their codons.
mesh_terms: D000225:Adenine; D000596:Amino Acids; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D002621:Chemistry; D003062:Codon; D003596:Cytosine; D004247:DNA; D005815:Genetic Code; D006147:Guanine; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012313:RNA; D013941:Thymine
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D003062:Codon; D006147:Guanine; D012313:RNA; D003596:Cytosine; D004247:DNA; D000225:Adenine; D013941:Thymine