nucleic acids are essential building blocks of DNA and RNA , This presentation gives a clear approach of it.

1. Medical biochemistry
NUCLEIC ACIDS

2. Introduction
• Nucleic acids are chemical compounds (naturally occurring) capable
of being broken down into;
1. Phosphoric acid
2. Sugars
3. Organic bases (mixtures ; purines and pyrimidines)
• Nucleic acids are the main information-carrying molecules of the cell
• The two main classes of nucleic acids are deoxyribonucleic acid
(DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA)
• Nucleotides are the building blocks of nucleic acids

3. NUCLEOTIDES
• Nucleotides are the basic building blocks of nucleic acids (both DNA
and RNA)
• Structurally , nucleotides have 3 components
1. A nitrogenous base
2. A pentose
3. A phosphate

4. Nitrogenous bases
• Nitrogenous compounds that form an important part of nucleotides
which are the building blocks of nucleic acids (DNA & RNA)
• There are a total of five bases found in the DNA and RNA world,
namely – Adenine (A), Cytosine (C), Guanine (G), Thymine (T) and
Uracil (U).
• The bases are subdivided into purines and pyrimidines
• Purines include adenine and guanine
• Pyrimidines include thymine , cytosine , and uracil

5. Purines
• Purine is a heterocyclic aromatic organic compound that consists of two rings
(pyrimidine and imidazole) fused together. It is water-soluble.
• Purines include adenine and guanine among others (hypoxanthine and xanthine)
• These bases form hydrogen bonds with their complementary pyrimidines , thymine
and cytosine respectively .in RNA , the complement of adenine is uracil instead of
thymine
• Purines are mostly naturally available in meat and meat products and not only
important in DNA and RNA but also significant components in a number of other
important biomolecules, such as ATP, GTP, cyclic AMP, NADH, and coenzyme A.
• Purine (1) itself, has not been found in nature, but it can be produced by organic
synthesis.
• They may also function directly as neurotransmitters, acting upon purinergic
receptors. Adenosine activates adenosine receptors.

7. adenine
• Adenine is a two ringed purine derived
nucleobase that has an amino group
attached to the C6 position.
• In the nucleotide structure it forms a
covalent bond with the ribose/deoxyribose
sugar and hydrogen bond with the
adjacent nucleobase, that is either a
thymine or uracil.
• Other compounds formed by adenine
include vitamin B12, adenosine
triphosphate (ATP), nicotinamide adenine
dinucleotide (NAD) and flavin adenine
dinucleotide (FAD).
• Adenine structure formula is C5H5N5