title: Chemical etiology of nucleic acid structure: the alpha-threofuranosyl-(3'-->2') oligonucleotide system.
abstract: TNAs [(L)-alpha-threofuranosyl oligonucleotides] containing vicinally connected (3'-->2') phosphodiester bridges undergo informational base pairing in antiparallel strand orientation and are capable of cross-pairing with RNA and DNA. Being derived from a sugar containing only four carbons, TNA is structurally the simplest of all potentially natural oligonucleotide-type nucleic acid alternatives studied thus far. This, along with the base-pairing properties of TNA, warrants close scrutiny of the system in the context of the problem of RNA's origin.
authors.affiliation: The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology at The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schöning
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Scholz
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Guntha
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Krishnamurthy
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Eschenmoser
mesh_terms: D020029:Base Pairing; D002236:Carbohydrate Conformation; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry; D019418:Evolution, Chemical; D006868:Hydrolysis; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D009692:Nucleic Acid Heteroduplexes; D009696:Nucleic Acids / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D012313:RNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D013780:Tetroses / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D009692:Nucleic Acid Heteroduplexes; D009696:Nucleic Acids; D009841:Oligonucleotides; D013780:Tetroses; D012313:RNA; D004247:DNA; C073321:erythrose