title: Interactions of antitumor drugs and DNA: crystallographic studies.
abstract: Several antitumor drugs complexed to DNA double helical fragments have been crystallized and their structures solved by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis at high resolution. These studies show in great detail the manner in which the planar aromatic components of the drugs intercalate between base pairs from the minor groove side of B-DNA, as well as hydrogen bonding components which anchor the drug to DNA through its interaction with base pairs on either side of the intercalative site. Analysis at this level makes it possible to contemplate the rational design of antitumor drugs that might bind more strongly or interact more specifically with certain nucleic acid sequences.
mesh_terms: D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic; D004247:DNA; D009279:Naphthacenes; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic; D009279:Naphthacenes; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D004247:DNA