The interactions of three related cationic porphyrins, TMPyP4, TMPyP3 and TMPyP2, with a WT 39-mer Bcl-2 promoter sequence G-quadruplex were studied using Circular Dichroism, ESI mass spectrometry, Isothermal Titration Calorimetry, and Fluorescence spectroscopy. The planar cationic porphyrin TMPyP4 (5, 10, 15, 20-meso-tetra (N-methyl-4-pyridyl) porphine) is shown to bind to a WT Bcl-2 G-quadrup...

The first crystal structures of Berberine and Sanguinarine intercalated with a d(CGTACG)(2) DNA sequence were obtained by X-ray diffraction analysis at 2.3 Å resolution. Both drugs join the end of two "two-molecules" DNA units, stacked in a non-classic intercalation site formed by six bases. Sanguinarine interacts with d(CGTACG)(2) DNA in its iminium form.

An intermolecular intercalation of base pairs was found at the CA step in the I222 crystal structure of the RNA.DNA hybrid, r(CAAAGAAAAG).d(CTTTTCTTTG), which contains two-thirds of the polypurine tract sequence of HIV-1 with a substitution of cytosine for the initial adenine. This sequence crystallized in both P212121 and I222 space groups, with an rms difference of only 0.63 A between residue...

Computer graphics model building and molecular mechanical calculations have been carried out on d(CGTACG)2 and its bis-intercalation complexes with triostin A and an N-Me-Ala analogue of triostin A. Two conformations of the DNA have been considered both for the uncomplexed and for complexed nucleic acid: in one the central A - T base pairs are Watson-Crick base paired; in the other they are Hoo...

The family of anticancer complexes that include the transition metal copper known as Casiopeínas® shows promising results. Two of these complexes are currently in clinical trials. The interaction of these compounds with DNA has been observed experimentally and several hypotheses regarding the mechanism of action have been developed, and these include the generation of reactive oxygen species, p...

We report evidence for fast photoinduced electron transfer mediated by the DNA helix that requires metal complexes that are avid intercalators of DNA. Here the donor bis(phenanthroline)(dipyridophenazine)ruthenium(II) [Ru(phen)2dppz2+] and acceptor bis(9,10-phenanthrenequinone diimine)(phenanthroline)rhodium(III) [Rh(phi)2phen3+] intercalate into DNA with Kb > 10(6) M-1. Luminescence quenching ...

The computer molecular modeling program HINT (Hydropathic INTeractions), an empirical hydropathic force field function that includes hydrogen bonding, coulombic and hydrophobic terms, was used to study sequence-selective doxorubicin binding/intercalation in the 64 unique CAxy, CGxy, TAxy, TGxy base pair quartet combinations. The CAAT quartet sequence is shown to have the highest binding score o...

Daunomycin is a widely used antibiotic of the anthracycline family. In the present study we reveal the structural properties and important intercalator-DNA interactions by means of molecular dynamics. As most of the X-ray structures of DNA-daunomycin intercalated complexes are short hexamers or octamers of DNA with two drug molecules per doublehelix we calculated a self complementary 14-mer oli...

DNA has proved to be an excellent material for nanoscale construction because complementary DNA duplexes are programmable and structurally predictable. However, in the absence of Watson-Crick pairings, DNA can be structurally more diverse. Here, we describe the crystal structures of d(ACTCGGATGAT) and the brominated derivative, d(AC(Br)UCGGA(Br)UGAT). These oligonucleotides form parallel-strand...