DNA-binding properties of cosmomycin D, an anthracycline with two trisaccharide chains.

Cosmomycin D (CosD) is the major constituent fraction isolated from a culture of Streptomyces olindensis ICB20. The ability of this compound to intercalate with double-stranded DNA was studied by gel mobility shift assays and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). ESI-MS experiments showed that the complex of CosD with 16-mer double-stranded DNA was at least as stable as a complex of daunorubicin with the same DNA sequence. This is the first study showing DNA binding properties of an anthracycline containing a beta-rhodomycinone aglycone chromophore O-linked to two trisaccharide chains.