441 — Polarography of biopolymers

Abstract

A short history of the development of the polarography of biopolymers is presented. Polarography was applied to the analysis of biopolymers soon after its invention. At the beginning of the 1930s to so-called presodium wave of proteins was found, and shortly afterwards Brdic̈ka discovered the catalytic double wave of proteins in solution containing cobalt ions. This double wave has been exploited mainly in clinical investigations. The d.c. polarographic reduction of —S—S— groups in proteins was demonstrated in 1964 and the reduction of non-protein groups was shown only at the beginning of the 1970s. First reports on the polarographic reducibility of a nucleic acid component — adenine — appeared in 1946. By the end of the 1950s the electroactivity of nucleic acids was demonstrated. Soon it was shown that polarographic methods were a useful tool in nucleic acid structure research. In the last 10–15 years double-helical and single-stranded DNAs have been studied using a number of modern polarographic techniques, including a.c. polarography, differential and normal pulse polarography, cyclic voltammetry, etc. By these means, information on the details of DNA double-helical structure and on the way the DNA molecule interacts with the mercury electrode surface have been obtained.