Nucleotide analog interference mapping (NAIM) is a combinatorial approach that probes individual atoms and functional groups in an RNA molecule and identifies those that are important for a specific biochemical function. Here, we show how NAIM can be adapted to reveal functionally important atoms and groups on RNA substrates of helicases. We explain how NAIM can be used to investigate translocation and unwinding mechanisms of helicases and discuss the advantages and limitations of this powerful chemogenetic approach.

The challenge for DNA glycosylases, enzymes involved in the base excision repair pathway, such Fpg and hOgg1, is to identify and remove one lesion among millions of undamaged bases by not only identifying small lesions that didn’t cause large disruptions of local DNA structures, but also by accommodating and processing bulky lesions using the same active site.

This book gives a progress report on the many and original contributions of radiation chemistry to the fundamental knowledge of the vast domain of chemical reactions and its applications.