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The noncovalent DNA binding of the bis(1,10-phenanthroline)copper(I) complex [(Phen)2CuI] was examined under anaerobic conditions by absorption and circular dichroism spectroscopy, and viscometry, as a function of phenanthroline concentration. Analyses according to the McGhee-von Hippel method indicated that binding exhibited both neighbor-exclusion and positive cooperativity effects, with a neighbor-exclusion parameter n approximately 2 and a cooperativity parameter omega approximately 4. The association constant for (Phen)2CuI binding decreased with increasing concentration of phenanthroline in excess over that required to stoichiometrically generate (Phen)2CuI, indicating that free phenanthroline was a weak competitive inhibitor of (Phen)2CuI binding. The maximal association constant for DNA binding of (Phen)2CuI in 0.2 M NaCl and 9.8% ethanol, extrapolated to zero concentration of excess phenanthroline, was 4.7 x 10(4) M-1 (DNA base pairs). The magnitude of the neighbor-exclusion parameter, the changes in spectral properties of (Phen)2CuI induced by DNA binding, and the increase in DNA solution viscosity upon (Phen)2CuI addition are consistent with a model for DNA binding by (Phen)2CuI involving partial intercalation of one phenanthroline ring of the complex between DNA base pairs in the minor groove as suggested previously [Veal & Rill (1989) Biochemistry 28, 3243-3250]. Viscosity measurements indicated that the mono(phenanthroline)copper(I) complex also binds to DNA by intercalation; however, no spectroscopic or viscometric evidence was found for DNA binding of free phenanthroline or the bis(2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline)copper(I) complex. DNA binding of free phenanthroline may be cooperative and induced by prior binding of (Phen)2CuI.

The cleavage of DNA restriction fragments by bis(1,10-phenanthroline)copper(I) [[(OP)2CuI]+] is sequence dependent: the trimer TAT is most strongly preferred, while the trimer TGT and tetramers TAAT, TAGT, and CAGT are strongly to moderately preferred [Veal, J. M., & R. L. (1988) Biochemistry 27, 1822-1827]. [(OP)2CuI]+ cleavage of a series of oligonucleotide duplexes of the type 5'-CCCTPyPuPyCCCC-3'/3'-GGGAPuPyPuGGGG-5' (Py = pyrimidine; Pu = purine) was examined to determine the effects of purine substituents in the central triplet on specificity. The relative cleavage rates of different PyPuPy triplets in oligomers were similar to those observed for restriction fragments. The undecamer duplex containing the trimer TAT (TTATC) was most preferentially cleaved, predominantly at the central adenosine and the adjacent 3'-thymidine. Duplexes differing from TTATC by a single A.T----G.C transition in the central triplet were cleaved at significantly reduced rates relative to TTATC, the order of preference being TAT greater than TGT greater than TAC greater than CAT. By contrast, duplexes differing from TTATC by a single A.T----I.C transition were cleaved at rates similar to those for TTATC when the transition occurred at the 5'-pyrimidine or central purine [i.e., C(.I)AT and TIT]. A duplex containing the trimer TAC(.I) was cleaved at a reduced rate similar to the duplex containing TAC(.G). The guanine 2-amino group at positions 1 and 2, but not position 3, of a 5'-PyPuPy-3' trimer is therefore implicated as a strong inhibitor of DNA binding by the copper-phenanthroline complex.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The bis(1,10-phenanthroline)copper(I) complex is a relatively simple molecule previously shown to cause DNA cleavage with a strong preference for gene control regions such as the Pribnow box. Sequence level mapping of sites of [(Phen)2CuI]+ cleavage in greater than 2000 bases in histone genes and the plasmid pUC9 showed that the specificity for control regions is related to a predominant preference for minor groove binding at TAT triplets, which were cleaved most strongly at the adenosine sugar ring. The related sequences TGT, TAAT, TAGPy, and CAGT (Py = pyrimidine) were moderately preferred, while CAT and TAC triplets, PyPuPuPu quartets, PuPuPuPy quartets, and CG-rich PyPuPuPy quartets were cleaved with low to average frequency. Polypurine and polypyrimidine sequences were cleaved with low frequency. The sequence preferences of [(Phen)2CuI]+ can be ascribed predominantly to (i) a requirement for binding in the minor groove at a pyrimidine 3'----5' step and (ii) stereoelectronic effects of the 2-amino group of guanine in the minor groove, which inhibit binding. Although the reagent appears primarily to recognize sequence features at the triplet or quartet level, lower than expected cleavage was observed for two TAT sequences adjacent to several other preferred sequences and higher than expected cleavage was observed at CAAGC sequences, suggesting that longer range sequence-dependent DNA conformational effects influence specificity in certain cases.