Fine Chemical Synthesis of Poly(ADP-Ribose)

Abstract

Poly(ADP-ribose) is an important biomolecule that regulates various cellular events such as DNA-damage repair, apoptosis, and transcription. The length of the poly(ADP-ribose) chains ranges from 2 to 400 units and branching at the ribose moiety occurs once every 20 to 50 units. To elucidate the biological role of poly(ADP-ribose), well-defined fragments of poly(ADP-ribose) are essential. However, traditional enzymatic synthesis of poly(ADP-ribose) leads to nonhomogeneous products with a broad distribution of the chain length and branching points. Chemical synthesis will allow for the preparation of poly(ADP-ribose) with a well-defined structure.