[Synthesis and biological activity of pseudonucleotides based on the evolution hypothesis of the glycocomponent of...

Joyce et al. proposed the hypothesis that the sugar moiety of nucleic acid evolved from some achiral, stable and acyclic sugar into the ribose or the deoxyribose. According to their hypothesis, we designed and synthesized new pseudonucleotides having pentaerythritol moiety as a sugar moiety of nucleic acid and estimated their biological activities. Although all chemicals were not toxic to Lepidium sativum, Rhodotolula rubra and Cercospora kikuchi in the eucaryotes, three compounds having adenine, benzimidazole or 6-chloropurine residue as the base component of nucleotide exhibited the growth inhibiting activity to a prokaryote Spirulina platensis at 100 ppm. In the plaque formation test with Vero cells, a chemical with 6-chloropurine moiety inhibited 65.7% of plaque formation by Herpes simplex virus(HSV-1) at 500 ppm. Three chemicals with 6-chloropurine, 2-mercaptomethylbenzimidazole or guanine as the nucleic base moiety inhibited 62.3, 63.1 and 52.5% of plaque formation by Parainfluenza virus(PIFV) at 500 ppm, respectively. The prepared chemicals exhibited no effect on the Vero cells at the same concentration.