1. How do you design the LZCap?
Enzymes have a relatively "specific" recognition of substrates. Therefore, when designing a new cap structure, on one hand, we need novel structural modifications for patent purposes, but on the other hand, we strive to maintain similarity with natural/known structures as much as possible. The natural structure has a ribose 3' OH, which can be modified (e.g., methylation). Based on this consideration, we chose to add a carbon at the 3' position for patent novelty, followed by an NH to mimic the hydrogen bonding of OH, and then an acetyl group to reduce the basicity of NH and enhance its hydrogen bonding capability. The activity of LzCap is better than methylated natural cap, possibly due to increased hydrogen bonding. Compared to the methyl and methoxy groups, the acetyl amino group may also increase van der Waals interactions between the substrate (cap) and the initiating factor (enzyme).
2. Is the acetyl amino group stable?
The acetyl amino group is already sufficiently stable. It is much more stable than the 7-methylated position and the phosphodiester bond, which are the least stable parts of the cap.
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