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Updated: Jul 13, 2026

Chemical Triphosphorylation of Oligonucleotides
Published on: June 2, 2022
Total synthesis by modern chemical ligation methods and high resolution (1.1 A) X-ray structure of ribonuclease A
David J Boerema1, Valentina A Tereshko, Stephen B H Kent
1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Gordon Center for Integrative Science, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
Abstract:
The total chemical synthesis of RNase A using modern chemical ligation methods is described, illustrating the significant advances that have been made in chemical protein synthesis since Gutte and Merrifield's pioneering preparation of RNase A in 1969. The identity of the synthetic product was confirmed through rigorous characterization, including the determination of the X-ray crystal structure to 1.1 Angstrom resolution.
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