ChemBioChem

The influence of water: Crystallization of (R/S)-α,β-CHF-dATP with the preorganized pol β-DNA complex shows that (S)-α,β-CHF-dATP is preferentially bound to the active site with the CF fluorine proximal to a structural water bound to Asp276.

On the tracks of a DNA polymerase: NMR provides insights into DNA synthesis in a virtually label-free manner and under close-to-physiological conditions. Through the monitoring of the chemical-shift changes of multiple ¹³C-methyl methionine residues we found unique recognition states for canonical and noncanonical cases, thus indicating enzymatic cycling through distinct paths.

Hold your P's: Phosphorylated tyrosine and serine residues in peptides have been modified selectively by DNA catalysts (see graphic). These deoxyribozymes catalyze covalent attachment of an RNA tag to a range of peptide sequences, thus a proof of principle for a new approach to phosphopeptide analysis is established.