title: Real-time investigation of nucleic acids phosphorylation process using molecular beacons.
abstract: Phosphorylation of nucleic acids is an indispensable process to repair strand interruption of nucleic acids. We have studied the process of phosphorylation using molecular beacon (MB) DNA probes in real-time and with high selectivity. The MB employed in this method is devised to sense the product of a 'phosphorylation-ligation' coupled enzyme reaction. Compared with the current assays, this novel method is convenient, fast, selective, highly sensitive and capable of real-time monitoring in a homogenous solution. The preference of T4 polynucleotide kinase (T4 PNK) has been investigated using this approach. The results revealed that a single-stranded oligonucleotide containing guanine at the 5' termini is most preferred, while those utilizing cytosine in this location are least preferred. The preference of (T)9 was reduced greatly when phosphoryl was modified at the 5' end, implying that T4 PNK could discern the phosphorylated/unphosphorylated oligonucleotides. The increase of oligonucleotide DNA length leads to an enhancement in preference. A fast and accurate method for assaying the kinase activity of T4 PNK has been developed with a wide linear detection range from 0.002 to 4.0 U/ml in 3 min. The effects of certain factors, such as NTP, ADP, (NH4)2SO4 and Na2HPO4, on phosphorylation have been investigated. This novel approach enables us to investigate the interactions between proteins and nucleic acids in a homogenous solution, such as those found in DNA repair or in drug development.
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Engineering Center, State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, Institute of Biological Technology, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University Changsha 410082, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhiwen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Kemin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Weihong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Changbei
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Lingfeng
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Qiuping
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Xiangxian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Meng
mesh_terms: D017122:Bacteriophage T4 / Q000201:enzymology; D011088:DNA Ligases / Q000378:metabolism; D015342:DNA Probes / Q000737:chemistry*; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry*; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization / Q000379:methods*; D009696:Nucleic Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011116:Polynucleotide 5'-Hydroxyl-Kinase / Q000378:metabolism*; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D015342:DNA Probes; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D009696:Nucleic Acids; D009841:Oligonucleotides; D011116:Polynucleotide 5'-Hydroxyl-Kinase; D011088:DNA Ligases