Yoon Jung Jang

Synthesis, characterization, DNA interaction, antioxidant and anticancer activity of new ruthenium(II) complexes of thiosemicarbazone/semicarbazone bearing 9,10-phenanthrenequinone.

A new series of octahedral ruthenium(II) complexes supported by tridentate ligands derived from phenanthrenequinone and derivatives of thiosemicarbazide/semicarbazide and other co-ligands have been synthesized and characterized. DNA binding experiments indicated that ruthenium(II) complexes can interact with DNA through non-intercalation and the apparent binding constant value (Kb) of [RuCl(CO)(PPh₃)(L₃)] (3) at room temperature was calculated to be 2.27 × 10(3)M(-1). The DNA cleavage studies showed that the complexes have better cleavage of pBR 322 DNA. Antioxidative activity proved that the complexes have significant radical scavenging activity against free radicals. Cytotoxic activities showed that the ruthenium(II) complexes exhibited more effective cytotoxic activity against selected cancer cells.

Hole Trapping of G‐Quartets in a G‐Quadruplex

Since reduction and oxidation of DNA are essential processes occurring in various biological phenomena, electron and hole transfer in DNA has drawn recent attention because of its importance and potential application in biological science and nano-biotechnology, respectively. In practice, it is known that the reduction of DNA closely relates to the repair of damaged DNA such as a T-T cyclobutane lesion, whereas the oxidation of DNA promotes oxidative damage, apoptosis, and cancer. Thus, it is important to understand the mechanisms and dynamics of DNA-mediated charge-transfer processes. Excess electron transfer (EET) in DNA has been studied by various techniques, such as laser flash photolysis, g-ray radiolysis, or product analysis which were used to analyze the cleavage of 5-bromo-2’-deoxyuridine (BrdU) or the T-T dimer in DNA by photoinduced electron transfer. The laser flash photolysis is conducted principally on shortlength DNA, which is containing four A-T base pairs between two chromophores. Meanwhile, the DNA-mediated hole transfer occurs over a distance greater than 20 nm and the migration of the hole along the DNA involves many steps of short-distance charge-transfer processes between stacked guanine (G) bases because guanine among the four natural DNA bases is most sensitive to oxidation. The hole transfer rate depends on the inserted nucleobase between the G-C base pairs. In addition, the delocalization of the charge over the stacked G bases along the DNA stem has also been reported. Most studies on DNA-mediated charge-transfer processes have been performed on a DNA duplex with Watson–Crick base pairing. However, recently, non-B DNAs including Gquadruplexes have attracted great attention as fascinating materials for nanotechnology because of their unique structures. Especially, G-quadruplexes formed from various G-rich sequences have received great attention in biological research because in vitro they block the binding of telomerase and act as a transcriptional repressor element and enzyme to provide cancerous cells immortality. Furthermore, G-quadruplexes are an emerging topic for developing DNA-based molecular electronic devices because of their ability as electron carrier, their unique hole-trapping property, and their high conductance. With hole transfer in DNA, recently, hole trapping has also been regarded as an important process to determine the overall efficiency of hole migration in DNA. Here, we have investigated the hole transfer and trapping in a riboflavin-labeled G-quadruplex using femtosecond (fs) laser flash photolysis and pulse radiolysis. In contrast to duplex DNAs, in which p-p stacking has been believed to be a medium for hole transfer, G-quadruplexes have G-quartet structures composed of four G-bases located in the same plane and have also the stacked G-bases (Scheme 1). Thus, it

Bioconjugation of L-3,4-Dihydroxyphenylalanine Containing Protein with a Polysaccharide

We describe the simple bioconjugation strategy in combination of periodate chemistry and unnatural amino acid incorporation. The residue specific incorporation of 3,4-dihydroxy-l-phenylalanine can alter the properties of protein to conjugate into the polymers. The homogeneously modified protein will yield quinone residues that are covalently conjugated to nucleophilic groups of the amino polysaccharide. This novel approach holds great promise for widespread use to prepare protein conjugates and synthetic biology applications.

Evaluation of DNA-binding, radical scavenging and cytotoxic activity of five coordinated Cd(II) complexes containing 2-acetylpyridine-N4-substituted thiosemicarbazone

A series of new five coordinated Cd(II) complexes of the type [Cd(Ln)Cl2] (n = 1–3) have been isolated and characterized using analytical, spectral and structural methods. The single crystal X-ray structure of one of the complexes [Cd(L2)Cl2] (2) has been determined and a distorted square pyramidal geometry has been found, in which Cd(II) is coordinated with two nitrogens, one sulfur and two chlorine atoms. The interactions of the complexes with calf thymus DNA (CT-DNA) have been explored by absorption, competitive, thermal denaturation and viscometric methods, which revealed that the compounds could interact with CT-DNA through groove binding. Investigation of the antioxidant properties showed that the Cd(II) complexes have a strong radical scavenging tendency against DPPH˙, OH˙ and NO˙ radicals. Further, the cytotoxic effect of the compounds examined on a human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) showed that the complexes exhibited substantial cytotoxic activity.

Systematic investigation on the central metal ion dependent binding geometry of M-meso-tetrakis(N-methylpyridinium-4-yl)porphyrin to DNA and their efficiency as an acceptor in DNA-mediated energy transfer.

Binding geometry to DNA and the efficiency as a donor for energy transfer of various metallo- and nonmetallo-porphyrins were investigated mainly by polarized light spectrscopy and fluorescence measurements. Planar porphyrins including nonmetallo meso-tetrakis(N-methylpyridinium-4-yl)porphyrin (TMPyP), CuTMPyP, and NiTMPyP produced large red-shift and hypochromism in absorption spectrum and a negative circular dichroism (CD) in the Soret band suggesting that these porphyrins intercalate between DNA base-pairs as expected. In the intercalation pocket, the molecular plane of these porphyrins tilts to a large extent. From a linear dichroism (LD) study, the angle between the two electric transition moments in the Soret band were 16°, 12°, and 11° for TMPyP, NiTMPyP, and CuTMPyP, respectively. On the other hand, porphyrins with axial ligands namely, VOTMPyP, TiOTMPyP, and CoTMPyP, produced a positive CD signal in the Soret band. Hyperchromism and less red-shift were apparent in the absorption spectrum. These observations indicated that the porphyrins with an axial ligand bind outside of the DNA. The angles of both the B(x) and B(y) transition with respect to the local DNA helix were 39°~46° for all porphyrins. From these results, the conceivable binding site of porphyrins with axial ligands is suggested to be the minor groove. All porphyrins were able to quench the fluorescence of intercalated ethidium. Strong overlap between emission spectrum of ethidium and the absorption spectrum of porphyrins when they simultaneously bound to DNA was found suggesting the mechanism behind energy transfer is, at least in part, the Förster type resonance energy transfer (FRET). The minimum distance in base pairs between ethidium and porphyrin required to permit the excited ethidium to emit a photon was the longest for CoTMPyP being 17.6 base pairs and was the shortest for CuTMPyP and NiTMPyP at 8.0 base pairs. The variation in the distance was almost proportional to the extent of the spectral overlap, the common area under emission spectrum of ethidium and absorption spectrum of porphyrin, supporting the FRET mechanism, whereas the effect of the orientation factor which was considered by relative binding geometry was limited.

Intercalation of bulky Δ,Δ- and Λ,Λ-bis-Ru(II) complex between DNA base pairs

Interaction of Delta,Delta- and Lambda,Lambda-bis-Ru(II) complexes with native DNA was investigated by isotropic absorption and polarized spectroscopy including circular and linear dichroism (CD and LD). Despite the steric hindrance originating from its four bulky phenanthroline ligands at both ends of the molecule, this molecule rapidly intercalates between DNA base pairs. Intercalation was judged by large hypochromism and red shift in the UV-visible absorption spectra in the absorption region of the bridging moiety as well as in the metal-to-ligand-charge transfer absorption region. Further support for the intercalation is found in the fact that the magnitude of negative reduced LD signal in the absorption region of the bridging moiety was comparable to that of the DNA absorption region, indicating that the bridge connecting the two Ru(II) complexes is nearly parallel to the DNA base planes. No difference in the binding mode between the two enantiomers was observed. In the presence of either bis-Ru(II) complex, ethidium bromide, a classical intercalator, can intercalate into the empty sites but was not able to replace the Ru(II) complexes. Near the saturation, ground state interaction between ethidium and bis-Ru(II) complex was evident by LD.

Formation of Poly[d(A-T) 2 ] Specific Z-DNA by a Cationic Porphyrin

Typical CD spectrum of the right-handed poly[d(A-T)2] was reversed when trans-bis(N-methylpyrimidium-4-yl)diphenyl porphyrin (trans-BMPyP) was bound, suggesting that the helicity of the polynucleotide was reversed to the left-handed form. The formation of the left-handed Z-form poly[d(A-T)2] was confirmed by 31P NMR, in which a single 31P peak of B-form poly[d(A-T)2] was split into two peaks, which is similar to the conventional B-Z transition of poly[d(G-C)2] induced by the high ionic strength. The observed B-Z transition is unique for poly[d(A-T)2]. The other polynucleotides, including poly[d(G-C)2], poly(dG)·poly(dC) and poly(dA)·poly(dT) remained as the right-handed form in the presence of the same porphyrin. This observation suggests that the porphyrin array that was formed along the poly[d(A-T)2] provides a template to which left-handed poly[d(A-T)2] is associated with an electrostatic interaction.

Photoinduced reduction of manganese(III) meso-tetrakis(1-methylpyridinium-4-yl)porphyrin at AT and GC base pairs.

The photoreduction of water-soluble cationic manganese(III) meso-tetrakis(1-methylpyridium-4-yl)porphyrin (Mn(III)(TMPyP)(4+)) bound to a synthetic polynucleotide, either poly[d(A-T)2] or poly[d(G-C)2], was examined by conventional absorption and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, transient absorption, and transient Raman spectroscopy. Upon binding, Mn(III)(TMPyP)(4+) produced a positive CD signal for both polynucleotides, suggesting external binding. In the poly[d(A-T)2]-Mn(III)(TMPyP)(4+) adduct case, an interaction between the bound porphyrin was suggested. The transient absorption spectral features of Mn(III)(TMPyP)(4+) in the presence of poly[d(A-T)2] and poly[d(G-C)2] were similar to those of the photoreduced products, Mn(II)(TMPyP)(4+), whereas Mn(III)(TMPyP)(4+) in the absence of polynucleotides retained its oxidation state. This indicated that both poly[d(A-T)2] and poly[d(G-C)2] act as electron donors, resulting in photo-oxidized G and A bases. The transient Raman bands (ν2 and ν4) that were assigned to porphyrin macrocycles exhibited a large downshift of ~25 cm(-1), indicating the photoreduction of Mn(III) to Mn(II) porphyrins when bound to both polynucleotides. The transient Raman bands for pyridine were enhanced significantly, suggesting that the rotation of peripheral groups for binding with polynucleotides is the major change in the geometry expected in the photoreduction process. These photoinduced changes do not appear to be affected by the binding mode of porphyrin.

Z-form DNA specific binding geometry of Zn(II) meso-tetrakis(N-methylpyridinium-4-yl)porphyrin probed by linear dichroism spectroscopy.

Zn(II) meso-tetrakis(N-methylpyridinium-4-yl)porphyrin (ZnTMPyP) produced a unique linear dichroism (LD) spectrum when forming a complex with Z-form poly[d(G-C)(2)]. The spectrum was characterized by a large positive wavelength-dependent LD signal in the Soret absorption region. The magnitudes of LD in both the DNA and Soret band increased as the [porphyrin]/[DNA base] ratio increased and were larger by 20-40 times compared to the negative LD of the ZnTMPyP bound to B-form poly[d(G-C)(2)] and poly[d(A-T)(2)]. The angles calculated from LD were respectively 49° and 42° for B(x) and B(y) transitions of the porphyrin with respect to the local helix axis of Z-form poly[d(G-C)(2)]. The appearance of the unique LD spectrum for the Z-form poly[d(G-C)(2)] complex was accompanied by a bisignate circular dichroism spectrum in the Soret region, whose magnitude was proportional to the square of the porphyrin concentration, suggesting a stacking interaction between Z-form poly[d(G-C)(2)]-bound ZnTMPyP with other bound ZnTMPyP. From these observations, a conceivable binding mode of ZnTMPyP to Z-form poly[d(G-C)(2)] complex was proposed, in which ZnTMPyP binds at the major groove or across the groove. In contrast with Z-form poly[d(G-C)(2)], ZnTMPyP binds to poly[d(A-T)(2)] in a monomeric manner with the angles of 57° and 59° for the two porphyrins transition moments with respect to the local polynucleotide helix axis. The polarized spectral properties of ZnTMPyP bound to B-form poly[d(G-C)(2)] coincide with the intercalated nonmetallic TMPyP, namely, a negative CD signal in the Soret band and a negative wavelength-dependent reduced LD signal, with a magnitude larger than that in the DNA absorption region in spite of its axial ligands.

Ligand effect and cooperative role of metal ions on the DNA cleavage efficiency of mono and binuclear Cu(II) macrocyclic ligands complexes.

Two binuclear Cu(II) complexes of N-functionalized macrocycle ligands, namely 1,3-bis(1,4,7-triaza-1-cyclonomyl)propane and 1-(3-(1,4,7-triazonan-1-yl)propyl)-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclo-dodecane, were synthesized and their ability to hydrolyze the cleavage of supercoiled plasmid DNA (pBR322) was compared with that of structurally related non-functionalized mononuclear Cu(II) complexes. The former, binuclear Cu(II) complex with the symmetrical ligand exhibited enhanced double-strand cleavage activity compared to the other three complexes at the same [Cu(2+)] concentration. In contrast, the latter binuclear complex with unsymmetrical macrocylic ligand did not give rise to double-strand DNA cleavage. The linear DNA formation induced by the mononuclear Cu(II) 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclo-dodecane complex was realized via a non-random double-stranded scission process. The differential cleavage activity is discussed in relation to dimer formation, effective cooperation and coordination environment of the metal center. The hydrolytic cleavage by the copper complexes without H2O2 is supported by evidence from an anaerobic reaction, free radical quenching, and nitro blue tetrazolium assay. In contrast, both the binuclear complexes cleaved supercoiled DNA efficiently to Form III (linearized DNA) in the presence of H2O2, indicating that nuclearity is a crucial parameter in oxidative cleavage. The radical scavenger inhibition study and nitro blue tetrazolium assay suggested the involvement of H2O2 and superoxide ions in the oxidative cleavage of DNA by the binuclear complexes.