Chemical synthesis of picornaviral protein primers of RNA replication
Abstract
Naturally occurring nucleopeptidic replication primers (VPg–pUpU) of poliovirus and coxsackie virus were chemically synthesized. The synthesis was accomplished via block-coupling of two minimally protected fragments of the target structures: a short RNA-nucleopeptide and a longer peptide segment containing diverse side-chain functionalities. The synthetic VPg–pUpU of coxsackie virus was characterized by NMR spectroscopy.