Engineering Science and Materials Commons^™

Purification And Structural Characterization Of Caged Dna Oligonucleotides, Brendan Michael Mcadams

LSU Master's Theses

“Cage” molecules reversibly block the bioactivity of a target substrate molecule by a photolyzable covalent bond formed at a functional site of the target molecule. The attachment of cage molecules to DNA oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) to transiently block bioactivity, and site-specific restoration of bioactivity using targeted light exposure, would enable a new method of control for use in gene therapy, molecular/DNA computing, molecular biology, and drug delivery. The reaction of the cage molecule 1-(4,5-dimethoxy-2-nitrophenyl)diazoethane (DMNPE) with DNA ODNs in an batch reaction yields a mixture of products with varying degrees of caging. Purification and verification of the hypothesized site of DMNPE …