title: Evidence of formation of adenine dimer cation radical in DNA: the importance of adenine base stacking.
abstract: Deprotonation of the adenine (A) base in both mononucleotide and oligonucleotide (ODN) was measured by nanosecond pulse radiolysis. The cation radical (A(+*)) of deoxyadenosine (dA), produced by oxidation with SO(4)(-*), rapidly deprotonated to form the neutral A radical (A(- H)(*)) with a rate constant of 2.0 x 10(7) s(-1) and a pK(a) value of 4.2, as determined by transient spectroscopy. A similar process was observed in experiments performed on a variety of double-stranded ODNs containing adenine x thymine (A x T) base pairs. The transient spectrum of A(+)(*) in an ODN composed of alternating A x T pairs was essentially identical to that of free dA and differed from the spectra of ODNs containing AA and AAA. In contrast, the spectra of A(- H)(*) were not affected by the sequence. These results suggest that the positive charge on A(+)(*) in ODNs is delocalized as the dimer is stabilized by pi-orbital stacking between adjacent A's. The rate constants for deprotonation of A(+)(*) in ODNs containing AA and AAA (0.9-1.1 x 10(7) s(-1)) were a factor of 2 smaller than the rate constants for deprotonation of A(+)(*) in ODNs containing alternating A x T and dA (2.0 x 10(7) s(-1)). This suggests that the formation of a charge resonance stabilized dimer AA(+)(*) in DNA produced a significant barrier to deprotonation.
authors.affiliation: The Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research, Osaka University, Mihogaoka 8-1, Ibaraki Osaka 567-0047, Japan. kobayasi@sanken-osaka.u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
mesh_terms: D000225:Adenine / Q000737:chemistry*; D020029:Base Pairing; D001483:Base Sequence; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D019281:Dimerization; D007700:Kinetics; D011522:Protons; D013053:Spectrophotometry
chemical_list: D011522:Protons; D004247:DNA; D000225:Adenine