title: Effect of terminal 3'-hydroxymethyl modification of an RNA primer on nonenzymatic primer extension.
abstract: The significance of the precise position of the hydroxyl at the 3'-end of an RNA primer for nonenzymatic template-directed primer extension is not well understood. We show that an RNA primer terminating in 3'-hydroxymethyl-2',3'-dideoxy-guanosine has greatly diminished activity, suggesting that the spatial preorganization of the terminal sugar contributes significantly to the efficiency of primer extension.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular Biology and Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, 185 Cambridge Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA. szostak@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu and Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Ayan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pal
authors.affiliation: Boston College, Department of Chemistry, Merkert Chemistry Center, 2609 Beacon Street, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467, USA and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, 300 Third Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA.
authors.forename: Rajat S
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3169-6218
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Das
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular Biology and Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, 185 Cambridge Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA. szostak@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 12 Oxford St., Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Weicheng
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Boston College, Department of Chemistry, Merkert Chemistry Center, 2609 Beacon Street, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467, USA.
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.affiliation: Boston College, Department of Chemistry, Merkert Chemistry Center, 2609 Beacon Street, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467, USA.
authors.forename: Larry W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: McLaughlin
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular Biology and Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, 185 Cambridge Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA. szostak@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu and Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 12 Oxford St., Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Jack W
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4131-1203
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Szostak
mesh_terms: D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D006151:Guanosine / Q000737:chemistry; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D021141:Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D012313:RNA / Q000032:analysis / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D013237:Stereoisomerism
chemical_list: C034477:RNA primers; D006151:Guanosine; D012313:RNA