Advanced search

Filter By:

Journal Check one or more journals to show results from those journals only.

Choose more journals

Article type Check one or more article types to show results from those article types only.
Subject Check one or more subjects to show results from those subjects only.
Date Choose a date option to show results from those dates only.

Custom date range

Clear all filters
Sort by:
Showing 1–23 of 23 results
Advanced filters: Author: Philipp Holliger Clear advanced filters

  • Sterically demanding 2′-modified nucleotides used in antisense therapeutics have thus far been challenging to synthesise enzymatically. Now, it has been shown that mutation of two gatekeeper residues in an archaeal DNA polymerase unlocks efficient synthesis of the modified nucleic acid oligomers 2′-O-methyl-RNA and 2′-O-(2-methoxyethyl)-RNA and enables the evolution of 2′-O-methyl-RNA enzymes.

    • Niklas Freund
    • Alexander I. Taylor
    • Philipp Holliger
    Research
    Nature Chemistry
    Volume: 15, P: 91-100

  • Models of abiotic RNA replication suffer from inherent product inhibition arising from the high stability of RNA duplexes. Now, it has been shown that RNA trinucleotide substrates undergoing simple physicochemical cycles can overcome this problem, enabling open-ended replication of defined and random RNA sequences by a polymerase ribozyme.

    • James Attwater
    • Teresa L. Augustin
    • Philipp Holliger
    ResearchOpen Access
    Nature Chemistry
    Volume: 17, P: 1129-1137

  • The authors describe methods for the directed evolution of artificial endonuclease and ligase enzymes by X-SELEX, from diverse repertoires of synthetic genetic polymers (XNAzymes). The protocol has been applied to four different XNA chemistries and three different reactions, and it is, in principle, applicable to many more.

    • Alexander I Taylor
    • Philipp Holliger
    Protocols
    Nature Protocols
    Volume: 10, P: 1625-1642

  • Oligonucleotide catalysts such as ribozymes and DNAzymes can cleave RNA efficiently and specifically but are typically dependent on high concentrations of divalent cations, limiting their biological applications. A modular XNAzyme catalyst composed of 2′-deoxy-2′-fluoro-β-d-arabino nucleic acid (FANA) has now been developed that can cleave long (>5 kb), highly structured mRNAs under physiological conditions and enables allele-specific catalytic RNA knockdown inside cells.

    • Alexander I. Taylor
    • Christopher J. K. Wan
    • Philipp Holliger
    Research
    Nature Chemistry
    Volume: 14, P: 1295-1305

  • The origin of life on Earth remains one of the great unsolved mysteries. A new study suggests that cooperation among molecules could have contributed to the transition from inanimate chemistry to biology. See Article p.72

    • James Attwater
    • Philipp Holliger
    News & Views
    Nature
    Volume: 491, P: 48-49

  • Engineering reverse transcriptases for modified or unnatural nucleic acids is challenging, but now a versatile method has been developed that enables the discovery of efficient reverse transcriptases. The method works with a wide range of template structures, including xeno-nucleic acids and can also be used to produce high-fidelity reverse transcriptases for RNA.

    • Gillian Houlihan
    • Sebastian Arangundy-Franklin
    • Philipp Holliger
    Research
    Nature Chemistry
    Volume: 12, P: 683-690

  • Macromolecular aggregates may have played an important role in the origin of life. Here, the authors report hydrophobic-cationic peptides that form insoluble aggregates, which reversibly accrete RNA on their surfaces, and enhance RNA polymerization by a ribozyme.

    • Peiying Li
    • Philipp Holliger
    • Shunsuke Tagami
    ResearchOpen Access
    Nature Communications
    Volume: 13, P: 1-11

  • Authors discuss how synthetic biology approaches could be applied to assemble synthetic quasibiological systems able to replicate and evolve, illuminating universal properties of life and the search for its origins.

    • James Attwater
    • Philipp Holliger
    Comments & Opinion
    Nature Methods
    Volume: 11, P: 495-498

  • Four different XNAs — polymers with backbone chemistries not found in nature, namely, arabino nucleic acids, 2′-fluoroarabino nucleic acids, hexitol nucleic acids and cyclohexene nucleic acids — are found to be able to support the evolution of synthetic enzymes (XNAzymes) that catalyse several chemical reactions.

    • Alexander I. Taylor
    • Vitor B. Pinheiro
    • Philipp Holliger
    Research
    Nature
    Volume: 518, P: 427-430

  • A crucial transition in the origin of life was the emergence of self-replicating RNA and its compartmentalization within protocellular structures. Here it is shown that the physicochemical properties of ice, a simple medium widespread on a temperate early earth, could have mediated this transition.

    • James Attwater
    • Aniela Wochner
    • Philipp Holliger
    Research
    Nature Communications
    Volume: 1, P: 1-9

  • Lysine-rich peptides from the ribosomal core and derived homolysine decapeptides of either L-, D- or mixed chirality have now been shown to enhance RNA polymerase ribozyme activity at low magnesium concentrations, accelerate ribozyme evolution and enable templated RNA synthesis within membranous protocells.

    • Shunsuke Tagami
    • James Attwater
    • Philipp Holliger
    Research
    Nature Chemistry
    Volume: 9, P: 325-332

  • Molecular self-replication through ribozyme-catalysed RNA synthesis could shed light on the origins of life. Here, a polymerase ribozyme capable of synthesizing an RNA sequence longer than itself is described, based on a cold-adapted ribozyme variant evolved in ice. This process demonstrates the potential for the emergence of novel ribozyme phenotypes in altered reaction environments.

    • James Attwater
    • Aniela Wochner
    • Philipp Holliger
    Research
    Nature Chemistry
    Volume: 5, P: 1011-1018

  • During the early stages of life on Earth sophisticated RNA catalysts must have formed from simple precursors. Here it is shown that freeze–thaw cycles can drive the assembly of complex RNA polymerase ribozymes from networks of short RNA oligonucleotides through an unanticipated RNA chaperone effect.

    • Hannes Mutschler
    • Aniela Wochner
    • Philipp Holliger
    Research
    Nature Chemistry
    Volume: 7, P: 502-508

  • The highly charged phosphodiester chemistry of the natural nucleic acids DNA and RNA has been widely considered to be indispensable for their function as informational molecules. Now, synthetic genetic polymers with an uncharged alkyl phosphonate backbone chemistry have been shown to enable genetic information transfer and evolution.

    • Sebastian Arangundy-Franklin
    • Alexander I. Taylor
    • Philipp Holliger
    Research
    Nature Chemistry
    Volume: 11, P: 533-542