%0 Journal Article
%A Stolar, Tomislav
%A Pearce, Ben K. D.
%A Etter, Martin
%A Truong, Khai-Nghi
%A Ostojić, Tea
%A Krajnc, Andraž
%A Mali, Gregor
%A Rossi, Barbara
%A Molčanov, Krešimir
%A Lončarić, Ivor
%A Meštrović, Ernest
%A Uzarevic, Krunoslav
%A Grisanti, Luca
%T Base-pairing of uracil and 2,6-diaminopurine: from cocrystals to photoreactivity
%J iScience
%V 27
%N 6
%@ 2589-0042
%C St. Louis
%I Elsevier
%M PUBDB-2025-00386
%P 109894
%D 2024
%X We show that the non-canonical nucleobase 2,6-diaminopurine (D) spontaneously base pairs with uracil (U) in water and the solid state without the need to be attached to the ribose-phosphate backbone. Depending on the reaction conditions, D and U assemble in thermodynamically stable hydrated and anhydrated D-U base-paired cocrystals. Under UV irradiation, an aqueous solution of D-U base-pair undergoes photochemical degradation, while a pure aqueous solution of U does not. Our simulations suggest that D may trigger the U photodimerization and show that complementary base-pairing modifies the photochemical properties of nucleobases, which might have implications for prebiotic chemistry.
%F PUB:(DE-HGF)16
%9 Journal Article
%$ pmid:38783999
%U <Go to ISI:>//WOS:001243820300001
%R 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109894
%U https://bib-pubdb1.desy.de/record/622549