Halogenated Nucleic Acids

Dear Colleagues,

Nucleic acids containing halogenated bases extend the chemical information content of DNA and RNA, which may allow engineering of novel artificial proteins. They are known to exert profound effects in a variety of microbiological and mammalian systems. Nonetheless, their role in regulating the basic functions in a cell is still largely unexplored. Moreover, over the past two decades, halogenated nucleic acids have been developed as a versatile tool for chemical fine-tuning of artificial DNA in the emerging area of synthetic biology. Indeed, halogenated base pairing may possess higher specificity and thermal stability and yield an artificially expanded genetic information system.

This Special Issue is aimed at providing selected contributions on advances in the design, synthesis, structural and theoretical characterization, and applications of halogenated nucleic acids.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

Synthetic DNA

Methods for labeling DNA

Structure of halogenated nucleic acids

Structure of halogenated nucleobases

Halogen bonding in nucleic acids

Antitumor activity

Prof. Dr. Gustavo Portalone
Guest Editor

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• Nucleic acids
• Halogen bond
• Hydrogen bond
• X-ray crystal structure
• Qtaim Supramolecular chemistry
• Molecular recognition