Nucleotides | Your Nutrition

Nucleotides - a basic science

THE WORLD OF NUCLEOTIDES

THE GENETIC CODE: THE BODY'S BLUEPRINT

All functions and the appearance of our body are determined by the genetic code: the hereditary substance, deoxyribonucleic acid - DNA for short. This genetic material, DNA, bears all the characteristics that make up the appearance of living beings.

In the centre of the cell is the nucleus, also called the nucleus. Among other things, the individual hereditary factors of humans are stored in the cell nucleus. The genetic information is different in each organism and is coded on the so-called DNA, the blueprint of life. The DNA thread is constructed like a rope ladder. The basic components of this ladder are the nucleotides.

The nucleotides consist of three different components: a purine base (adenine = A, guanine = G) or a pyrimidine base (cytosine = C, thymine = T, uracil = U), a sugar molecule (deoxyribose in DNA or ribose in RNA) and a phosphate group. The backbone of the ladder consists of a sugar, deoxyribose, alternating with phosphate. The rungs of these ladders are formed by four organic bases: Adenine (A) and thymine (T), cytosine (C) and guanine (G). A bind with T, C binds with G. No other combination is possible.

The rope ladder is helically turned around its own axis - this increases stability. The technical term for this screw is called helix. In the case of DNA there is a double helix. The diameter of a helix is about two nanometres, that is two quadrillionths of a metre! The length of a DNA helix is 1 meter!

The genetic material controls all cell processes. When a cell divides into two identical cells, the DNA it contains must be distributed exactly to these two new cells. Each cell must receive the entire genetic information, the DNA, otherwise it is not viable.

How is this possible without the amount of DNA decreasing with each cell division?

THE DNA MUST BE DOUBLED BEFORE THE ACTUAL CELL DIVISION

One can imagine the DNA double helix as a zipper that opens for replication, the duplication of DNA.

Both half "zipper tapes" are then supplemented with new matching zipper teeth, the matching nucleotides, so that two "zippers" are created at the end. This means that a new guanine base pairs with a cytosine base from the existing strand, a new thymine base pairs with the adenine base of the existing strand, etc. Thus, two identical double helices are created from one double helix. When the cell divides, two new cells are created, which carry the same genetic material. For the replication to run smoothly, a sufficient number of all nucleotides must always be available.

DNA duplication requires a very large number of nucleotides, in total 3 BILLION!

NUCLEOTIDES - THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF LIFE

Building blocks for cell proliferation

Without a sufficient supply of nucleotides, cell duplication occurs very slowly. For the body to survive, however, it is essential that cell division of certain organs or systems takes place very quickly, e.g. in the immune system or in the intestine. If cell multiplication in the immune system is very slow, the immune system works less efficiently and unwanted germs can multiply more or less unhindered in the body, with sometimes devastating consequences.

Slow cell multiplication can also lead to serious problems in the intestines. The life span of intestinal cells is only about 4-5 days. Slower cell division means that the intestinal zoster develops less well and becomes shorter. This reduces the absorption of nutrients and thus the supply of vital nutrients to the body. However, damage can also occur more frequently in the bowel. Small lesions, which are often caused by stress, close less quickly and can develop into chronic inflammation and even irritable bowel syndrome.

A sufficient supply of nucleotides is therefore extremely important for the optimal functioning of the immune system and the intestine because they are essential for an adapted cell division.

Building blocks for protein synthesis

The nucleotides are not only part of the genetic code in the cells, but they are also essential for rapid protein synthesis in the cells. In order for a protein, e.g. an antibody in an immune cell, to be formed, 5 different molecules made up of nucleotides are needed. Without these tools, the cells would be unable or very slow to produce digestive enzymes, some hormones, haemoglobin for oxygen transport, etc. This would have extremely negative effects on our body.

Building blocks for energy transport

But the distribution of energy in the body also depends on sufficient nucleotides, because ATP (Adenosine triphosphate), GTP (Guanosine triphosphate) and UTP (Uridine triphosphate) are made up of nucleotides. The energy ingested in food in the form of sugar, fats and proteins is transferred to these nucleotide products, which transport the energy in the body to the cells.

Nucleotides can therefore rightly be called "building blocks of life" and a lack of supply of these molecules leads to the fact that various bodily functions no longer function optimally.

NUCLEOTIDES AND CELL RENEWAL

What is cell renewal?

Our human body is not a static structure. It is subject to constant decay and renewal at the cellular level, with old cells continually dying and being replaced by new ones, even in adult humans. One speaks of cell ageing when cells are damaged, for example, by external influences. They must therefore be replaced from time to time. The human body breaks down between ten and 50 million body cells per second and replaces them with new cells.

In purely mathematical terms, we are completely new people every seven years. On average, the cells of a 50-year-old person are only ten years old. However, there are large fluctuations in the body, because some tissues are real regenerators, while others remain for life. For example, humans produce so many new liver cells every year that theoretically there are enough for 18 whole organs. Even very static structures such as bones are constantly being broken down and rebuilt by the body.

The cells of the intestinal tract live only five days. The red blood cells have a life span of only about 120 days after having travelled almost 1600 kilometres through our blood system during this time. The cells of some tissues have a lifespan of years, but certainly do not live permanently. Even the cells of the bones in our skeleton renew themselves about every ten years.

Why nucleotides are so important for cell regeneration?

Before the cells can divide or reproduce, an exact copy of the genetic information contained in the DNA must be made. It is essential for the well-being of the body that the duplication of DNA is error-free because any error can lead to loss of immunity, disease or genetic mutation. In order to carry out the complicated process of error-free DNA duplication, each cell needs access to freely available nucleotides as cell building blocks, as well as a supply of RNA and various (nucleotide-containing) enzymes to enable replication and supply the dividing cell with energy.

During this replication, the double helix unrolls at specific points along the nucleotide strand, so that each side of the DNA is free and unbound towards the centre. The freely accessible nucleotides of the two halves of the DNA can merge with the complementary partner, resulting in two identical new strands, each containing one half of the original template. The newly formed DNA strands thus contain the identical genetic information as the original double helix. After the subsequent cell division, the newly formed cells thus have the same genetic information as the original cell.

The existing double helix unfolds lengthwise so that each side of the DNA strand is exposed. When it is unfolded, the complementary halves are exposed so that free nucleotides corresponding to the counterpart can join to form a new strand. This creates two identical strands, each containing half of the original template.

The availability of nucleotides as a limiting factor

Only the unrestricted supply of all five nucleotides can maintain and optimise continuous cell renewal. The availability of these decisive cell building blocks can be guaranteed by supplementing the diet with highly bioavailable nucleotides, whereby a composition of the individual nucleotides according to the requirements is also decisive.

Without a balanced pool of all five important nucleotides for DNA and RNA, cell renewal can be slowed or even partially stopped.

Classification of extremely large numbers

With very large numbers we reach the limits of our imagination. In microbiology, numbers sometimes become so large that it becomes difficult to make them understand. Here, simple analogies help to illustrate these confusingly large numbers.

The DNS strand

Human DNA is a good example. It consists of the immense number of about 3 200 000 000 nucleotides (3 billion). When DNA is stretched linearly, it has a length of about one metre. And this huge number of nucleotides is limited to the DNA strand of a single human cell. But the body of an adult human consists of about 100 trillion cells. With the exception of a few cell types, such as red blood cells, all the cells in the body contain their own copy of DNA.

So the human body has, in the form of its DNA alone, 100,000,000,000 cells x 3,200,000,000,000 nucleotides per cell. That is really an unimaginable number. Between 10 000 000 and 50 000 000 000 of our body cells are broken down every second and replaced by new ones or repaired. These figures show that a sufficient supply of nucleotides directly available to the body is of paramount importance. The products of PKN-AG help to close any supply bottlenecks of nucleotides and to supply the body with an optimal supply of nucleotides at any time and independent of the physical condition.

THE NEED FOR NUCLEOTIDES

Supplementing the diet with nucleotides

After having presented in the last section "The Science of Extremely Large Numbers" the incredibly large number of cells that the body constantly has to replace, repair or regenerate and having calculated the number of nucleotides needed to do so, we now come to the question where these nucleotides come from.

There are four sources of nucleotides that the human body needs for cell regeneration

Body's own biosynthesis from amino acids and glucose
Recycling of DNA and RNA from dead cells ("Salvage pathway")
Intake from food
Intake via food supplements

Nucleotides from food

Many cells in the body can meet the need for nucleotides through biosynthesis or recycling ("salvage pathway"), but there are cells that obtain nucleotides exclusively from food sources.

Cell species that depend on the supply of nucleotides from food

Cells of the mucosa layer (intestinal Mucosa cells)
Health-promoting bacteria in the intestinal tract (z. B. Bifidobacteria)
White blood cells of the immune system (especially lymphocytes)
Red blood cells (Erythrocytes)

All these cells have a short life span and must be replaced very quickly. Many factors, such as lifestyle, health status and stress, influence how quickly our body needs new cells to keep it healthy and ensure that biological processes run efficiently. Under physical conditions with high cell turnover (e.g. physical exertion, stress and infections), it is more efficient for the body to obtain nucleotides from food because a lot of metabolic energy is required for the body to produce and recycle its own nucleotides. In scientific circles, nucleotides are therefore often referred to as "conditionally essential" nutrients. This means that nucleotides from food become essential under certain conditions, i.e. they are no longer produced in sufficient quantities.

The lack of nucleotides in today's food

In recent decades, the uptake of nucleotides through food has changed considerably. If we go back even further into the time before the industrialisation of agriculture, the differences are even greater. In a study, the nucleotide content (adult portion) of various foods was determined by laboratory analysis. The results show dramatic differences in the nucleotide content of meat and vegetable food. The nucleotide content of vegetable food is generally much lower than that of meat. However, clear differences can also be seen in the meat itself. The highest nucleotide contents were found in meat that is rarely found on our plates today, such as liver, kidney and tripe. Therefore, it can make sense to supplement the daily diet with nucleotides.

The results show drastic differences in nucleotide content. The highest contents are found in meat products considered to be of inferior quality, which is rarely found on our plates today.

Not all nucleotides are the same!

Many foods in the modern diet cannot provide the optimal composition of purines and pyrimidines to ensure an optimal external supply despite an acceptable nucleotide content. PKN-AG's food supplements contain balanced, need-based compositions of all necessary nucleotides. These also have an extraordinarily high biological availability and are therefore very effective in compensating for supply deficits of nucleotides.