Hydrolysis of Nucleosides and Nucleotides in the Presence of Surfactants

Abstract

Acidic hydrolysis of nucleosides such as adenosine, guanosine and inosine in the presence of surfactants was investigated. There is no effect by the addition of a cationic surfactant, hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide, on the rate of hydrolysis, while the addition of an anionic surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulfate, enhances the hydrolysis rate of N-gulcoside linkage of the nucleosides. The extent of enhancement depends on pK_a value of the substrates. From the measurements of fluorescence spectra of adenosine and guanosine, the site of incorporation of the nucleosides into micelles was discussed. The hydrolysis rate of phosphoric ester linkage of nucleotides such as AMP and IMP was also measured. In the reversed micellar system of dodecylammonium propionate-hexane, the hydrolysis of ATP or ITP is enhanced by the addition of metal ions such as Mg(II), and the degree of enhancement is affected by the nucleotides.