title: Structural studies of RNA/DNA polypurine tracts.
abstract: During reverse transcription, an RNA polypurine tract (PPT) resists digestion by reverse transcriptase (RT) and primes plus-strand DNA synthesis. In this issue of Chemistry & Biology, Yi-Brunozzi et al. (2008) report structural studies of PPTs, illuminating how they are recognized by RT.
authors: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
authors: Megan E
authors: ME
authors: Fitzgerald
authors: Alexander C
authors: AC
authors: Drohat
mesh_terms: D001482:Base Composition; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D054303:HIV Reverse Transcriptase / Q000378:metabolism; D011685:Purine Nucleotides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D011685:Purine Nucleotides; D012367:RNA, Viral; D054303:HIV Reverse Transcriptase