Porphyrinyl-nucleosides containing fluorinated nucleobases

Porphyrins as spectroscopic sensors for conformational studies of DNA

Molecular systems containing two or more interacting porphyrins show remarkable spectroscopic features that allow for a very sensitive detection of conformational changes on the microscale level by different methods, such as fluorescence and electronic circular dichroism (ECD). Covalent porphyrin-DNA assemblies can provide a CD profile (exciton couplet) within the porphyrin Soret band region which is very diagnostic for DNA conformational changes. Additionally, covalently linked porphyrins have been shown to function as DNA molecular caps and to stabilize the non-self-complementary non-Watson-Crick guanine-adenine DNA sequence via their strong π-π stacking.

Synthesis and characterization of water-insoluble and water-soluble dibutyltin(IV) porphinate complexes based on the tris(pyridinyl)porphyrin moiety, their anti-tumor activity in vitro and interaction with DNA

The water-insoluble and water-soluble organotin(IV)porphinate complexes based on the tris-(4-pyridinyl)porphyrin and tris(N-methyl-4-pyridiniumyl)porphyrin moieties were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, (1)H NMR, IR and electrospray ionization mass spectra. The in vitro activity of the compounds against P388 leukemia and A-549 was determined. The results show that the anti-tumor activities of organotin(IV)porphinate is related to the water solubility of the compounds and the central ion in the porphyrin ring. The interaction between the water-soluble dibutyltin(IV) porphinate (7 and 10) complexes and DNA has been investigated. The result shows that compounds 7 and 10 cause DNA hypochromism measured by A(260), a slight increase in the viscosity of the DNA, and an increase in the melting point of DNA by 2.9 and 1.6 degrees C, respectively at DNA(base)/Drug(Por) ratios of 60. The binding constants to DNA were 1.35+/-0.16 x 10(7) M(-1) (7) and 1.45+/-0.12 x 10(6) M(-1) (10) determined using EB competition method based on the porphyrin concentration, which is 20 and five times greater than that of precursor porphyrins [5-p,o-(carboxy)methoxyphenyl-10,15,20-tris(N-methyl-4-pyridiniumyl)] porphyrin (p,o-tMPyPac) to DNA. Electrophoresis test shows that the compounds cannot cleave the DNA. According to the electrophoresis test result and all the above results, the cytotoxic activity against P388 and A-549 tumor cells appears not to come from the cleavage of DNA caused by the compounds but from the high affinity of compounds to DNA.

Site-specific photomodification of DNA by porphyrin-oligonucleotide conjugates synthesized via a solid phase H-phosphonate approach

meso-Tris(4-pyridyl)[[(omega-hydroxyhexamethylene)carbamoyl]phenyl ] porphyrin was converted to its H-phosphonate derivative and conjugated using solid phase synthesis with the 5'-hydroxyl group of deoxyribonucleotides d(TCTTCCCA) and d(T)12. These conjugates were transformed into their (N-methylpyridiniumyl)porphyrin analogs in the reaction with methyl iodide. A 532 nm laser beam was utilized to photoactivate both types of the conjugates in the presence of the target 22-mer and 16-mer oligonucleotides. Photoactivation of porphyrin-oligonucleotide conjugates resulted in site-specific DNA modification characterized by a main reaction site size of approximately 5 bases.