TY - JOUR A2 - Saito, Yoshio AU - Walsh, Jason M. AU - Beuning, Penny J. PY - 2012 DA - 2012/06/07 TI - Synthetic Nucleotides as Probes of DNA Polymerase Specificity SP - 530963 VL - 2012 AB - The genetic code is continuously expanding with new nucleobases designed to suit specific research needs. These synthetic nucleotides are used to study DNA polymerase dynamics and specificity and may even inhibit DNA polymerase activity. The availability of an increasing chemical diversity of nucleotides allows questions of utilization by different DNA polymerases to be addressed. Much of the work in this area deals with the A family DNA polymerases, for example, Escherichia coliDNA聚合酶I, DNA聚合酶involved in replication and whose fidelity is relatively high, but more recent work includes other families of polymerases, including the Y family, whose members are known to be error prone. This paper focuses on the ability of DNA polymerases to utilize nonnatural nucleotides in DNA templates or as the incoming nucleoside triphosphates. Beyond the utility of nonnatural nucleotides as probes of DNA polymerase specificity, such entities can also provide insight into the functions of DNA polymerases when encountering DNA that is damaged by natural agents. Thus, synthetic nucleotides provide insight into how polymerases deal with nonnatural nucleotides as well as into the mutagenic potential of nonnatural nucleotides. SN - 2090-0201 UR - https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/530963 DO - 10.1155/2012/530963 JF - Journal of Nucleic Acids PB - Hindawi Publishing Corporation KW - ER -