A New CoII Complex as a Bulge-Specific Probe for DNA

Chien-Chung Cheng; Yen-Ning Kuo; Kuo-Shen Chuang; Chi-Fong Luo; Wen Jwu Wang

doi:10.1002/(SICI)1521-3773(19990503)38:9<1255::AID-ANIE1255>3.0.CO;2-T

A New Co^II Complex as a Bulge-Specific Probe for DNA

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 1999 May 3;38(9):1255-1257. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1521-3773(19990503)38:9<1255::AID-ANIE1255>3.0.CO;2-T.

Authors

Chien-Chung Cheng¹, Yen-Ning Kuo¹, Kuo-Shen Chuang², Chi-Fong Luo², Wen Jwu Wang²

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529 (Taiwan), Fax: (+886) 2-27831237.
² Department of Chemistry, Tangkang University, Taipei (Taiwan).

Abstract

Bulge cleavage of two or three bases occurs when a DNA substrate is specifically cleaved oxidatively by [Co^II (tfa)₂ (happ)] (see picture). Hydrogen peroxide is necessary for the activation of this octahedral complex, which suggests that hydroxyl radicals are the reactive species. The complex has no significant reactivity towards the corresponding sequence in a single-stranded DNA region, and it exhibits only a low affinity towards double-stranded DNA. happ=macrocyclic ligand based on 1,10-phenanthroline, tfa=trifluoroacetate.

Keywords: Cobalt; DNA cleavage; DNA structures; Macrocycles; N ligands.