Perturbations to the 1H and 31P chemical shifts of DNA resonances together with twenty-four intermolecular nuclear Overhauser effects show that the anthracycline antibiotic arugomycin intercalates between the basepairs of the hexamer duplex d(5'-GCATGC)2 at the 5'-CpA and 5'-TpG binding sites. In the complex two drug molecules are bound per duplex with full retention of the dyad symmetry. Arugo...

The interaction between salmon testes DNA (st-DNA) and a series of Cu(II) polypyridyl complexes, i.e. [Cu(dmbpy)(NO3)2] (1) (dmbpy = 4,4'-dimethyl-2,2'-bipyridine), [Cu(bpy)(NO3)2] (2) (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine), [Cu(phen)(NO3)2] (3) (phen = phenanthroline), [Cu(terpy)(NO3)2]·H2O (4) (terpy = 2,2':6',2″-terpyridine), [Cu(dpq)(NO3)2] (5) (dpq = dipyrido-[3,2-d:2',3'-f]-quinoxaline) and [Cu(dppz)(NO...

Veliparib (ABT-888), which can inhibit cancer growth by blocking DNA base excision repair, is one of several recently developed oral inhibitors of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerases, which are currently used in clinical trials. In this work, interaction of calf thymus DNA (ctDNA) with ABT-888 was first investigated following UV-visible absorption, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, steady...

DNA intercalation is a major therapeutic modality for cancer therapeutic drugs. The therapeutic activity comes at a cost of normal tissue toxicity and genotoxicity. We have recently described a planar heterocyclic small molecule DNA intercalator, BMH-21, that binds ribosomal DNA and inhibits RNA polymerase I (Pol I) transcription. Despite DNA intercalation, BMH-21 does not cause phosphorylation...

Computations by the SIBFA method on the intercalative interaction energies of tilorone and m-AMSA with B-DNA representative oligonucleotides account for the specificity of these antitumor drugs for AT sites and minor groove intercalation. In tilorone this specificity is due to the strong preference of the side chains for the minor groove, which overcomes the preference of the chromophore for a ...

The PD-(D/E)XK type II restriction endonuclease ThaI cuts the target sequence CG/CG with blunt ends. Here, we report the 1.3 Å resolution structure of the enzyme in complex with substrate DNA and a sodium or calcium ion taking the place of a catalytic magnesium ion. The structure identifies Glu54, Asp82 and Lys93 as the active site residues. This agrees with earlier bioinformatic predictions an...

Pyrimidoacridinetriones (PATs) are a new group of highly active antitumor compounds. It seems reasonable to assume that, like for some other acridine derivatives, intercalation into DNA is a necessary, however not a sufficient condition for antitumor activity of these compounds. Rational design of new compounds of this chemotype requires knowledge about the structure of the intercalation comple...

The dramatically different DNA-binding properties of the two isomeric forms of a photochromic spiropyran have been demonstrated, enabling photoswitched DNA binding. The closed, UV-absorbing form shows no signs of interaction with DNA. Upon UV exposure the spiropyran is isomerized to the open form that binds to DNA by intercalation. The process is fully reversible as the corresponding dissociati...