Adenine Mononucleotide Interactions

Various types of nucleotides are formed in the body. One of them is adenine. It is one of the four nucleobases of DNA. When attached to deoxyribose, it forms adenosine. Adenine is an important molecule in RNA and is also involved in many cellular processes. However, adenine is not a part of Vitamin B complex.

The adenine moiety interacts with the gold surface through the pyrimidine ring. The adenine-gold interaction changes the orientation of the DNA strand. In addition, adenine is involved in various biochemical reactions.

Several studies have focused on the redox activity of adenine. The oxidized form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) is found in virtually every cell in the human body. This molecule is an important redox cofactor. NAD+ levels change during aging. Changes in NAD+ levels may be related to age-related diseases. Compounds that can raise NAD+ levels are used as dietary supplements. They have shown great potential as calorie restriction mimetics.

An alternative approach to studying adenine is to study thiolated mononucleotides. Thiolated mononucleotides contain adenine and thymine. Both the adenine and thymine interact with the metal surface through the amine and pyrimidine rings.

Adenine is considered to have a stronger base-metal interaction than thymine. However, it does not exhibit chemisorption according to a model. Interestingly, when thiolated single-stranded DNA with one cytosine is studied, a different layer is formed on the gold surface.

Another type of interaction between adenine and gold is through the imidazole ring. The molecule has a breathing shift band, which indicates that it is tilted towards the surface.