Diffusion Approach to Long Distance Charge Migration in DNA: Time-Dependent and Steady-State Analytical Solutions for the Product Yields

Excess electron trapping in duplex DNA: long range transfer via stacked adenines

An understanding of charge transfer (CT) in DNA lies at the root of assessing the risks and benefits of exposure to ionizing radiation. Energy deposition by high-energy photons and fast-charged particles creates holes and excess electrons (EEs) in DNA, and the subsequent reactions determine the complexity of DNA damage and ultimately the risk of disease. Further interest in CT comes from the possibility that hole transfer, excess electron transfer (EET), or both in DNA might be used to develop nanoscale circuits. To study EET in DNA, EPR spectroscopy was used to determine the distribution of EE trapping by oligodeoxynucleotides irradiated and observed at 4 K. Our results indicate that stretches of consecutive adenine bases on the same strand serve as an ideal conduit for intrastrand EET in duplex DNA at 4 K. Specifically, we show that A is an efficient trap for EE at 4 K if, and only if, the A strand of the duplex does not contain one of the other three bases. If there is a T, C, or G on the A strand, then trapping occurs at T or C instead of A. This holds true for stretches up to 32 A's. Whereas T competes effectively against A for the EE, it does not compete effectively against C. Long stretches of T pass the majority of EE to C. Our results show that AT stretches channel EE to cytosine, an end point with significance to both radiation damage and the photochemical repair of pyrimidine dimers.

Study of charge transport mechanisms in (125)I-induced DNA damage at various temperatures

PURPOSE

Iodine-125 decay induces localized DNA damage by three major mechanisms: (1) Direct damage by the emitted Auger electrons, (2) indirect damage by diffusible free radicals, and (3) charge neutralization of the residual, highly positively charged, tellurium daughter atom by stripping electrons from neighboring residues. The charge neutralization mechanism of (125)I-induced DNA damage is poorly understood. Charge transport along a DNA molecules can occur by either a hopping mechanism initiated by charge injection into DNA and propagated by charge migration through DNA bases along the DNA length, or by a tunneling mechanism in which charge transfers directly from a donor to an acceptor residue. In the first case additional damage in DNA nucleotides can be inflicted by the traveling charge; therefore, it is important to learn if charge hopping plays a role in (125)I-decay-induced DNA damage. In our previous work, we determined that at 193K the charge hopping mechanism was not an appreciable component of the mechanism of (125)I-induced DNA damage. However, the question whether this is also the case at higher temperatures remained open.

METHODS

In the current study we used a well-known chemical barrier for charge hopping, 8-oxo-7, 8,-dihydroguanine (8-oxo-G), to assess the role of this mechanism in (125)I-decay-induced DNA damage at the following temperatures: 198, 253, 277 and 298 K.

RESULTS

We found that varying the temperature had little effect on the distribution of (125)I-induced DNA breaks, as well as on the breaks found at the 8-oxo-G probe both with and without piperidine treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

We thus conclude that charge transport by the hopping mechanism is not a major factor in (125)I-decay-induced DNA damage at biologically relevant temperatures.

Mechanisms of strand break formation in DNA due to the direct effect of ionizing radiation: the dependency of free base release on the length of alternating CG oligodeoxynucleotides

The question of how NA base sequence influences the yield of DNA strand breaks produced by the direct effect of ionizing radiation was investigated in a series of oligodeoxynucleotides of the form (d(CG)(n))(2) and (d(GC)(n))(2). The yields of free base release from X-irradiated DNA films containing 2.5 waters/nucleotide were measured by HPLC as a function of oligomer length. For (d(CG)(n))(2), the ratio of the Gua yield to Cyt yield, R, was relatively constant at 2.4-2.5 for n = 2-4 and it decreased to 1.2 as n increased from 5 to 10. When Gua was moved to the 5' end, for example going from d(CG)(5) to d(GC)(5), R dropped from 1.9 +/- 0.1 to 1.1 +/- 0.1. These effects are poorly described if the chemistry at the oligomer ends is assumed to be independent of the remainder of the oligomer. A mathematical model incorporating charge transfer through the base stack was derived to explain these effects. In addition, EPR was used to measure the yield of trapped-deoxyribose radicals at 4 K following X-irradiation at 4 K. The yield of free base release was substantially greater, by 50-100 nmol/J, than the yield of trapped-deoxyribose radicals. Therefore, a large fraction of free base release stems from a nonradical intermediate. For this intermediate, a deoxyribose carbocation formed by two one-electron oxidations is proposed. This reaction pathway requires that the hole (electron loss site) transfers through the base stack and, upon encountering a deoxyribose hole, oxidizes that site to form a deoxyribose carbocation. This reaction mechanism provides a consistent way of explaining both the absence of trapped radical intermediates and the unusual dependence of free base release on oligomer length.

Polaronic semiconductor behavior of long-range charge transfer in DNA oligomers in solution: controlling barriers to long-distance radical cation migration in DNA with thymine analogs

A series of anthraquinone-linked DNA oligonucleotides was prepared and the efficiency of long-distance radical cation migration was measured. In one set of oligonucleotides, two GG steps are separated by either a TATA or an ATAT bridge. In these two compounds, the efficiency of radical cation migration from GG to GG differs by more than an order of magnitude. Replacement of the thymines in the TATA or ATAT bridges with 3-methyl-2-pyridone (t, a thymine analog) results in the much more efficient radical cation migration across the bridge in both cases. This is attributed to a decrease in the oxidation potential of t to a value below that of A. In contrast, replacement of the thymines in the TATA or ATAT bridges with difluorotoluene (f, a thymine analog with high oxidation potential) does not measurably affect radical cation migration. These findings are readily accommodated by the phonon-assisted polaron-hopping mechanism for long-distance charge transfer in duplex DNA and indicate that DNA in solution behaves as a polaronic semiconductor.

Static and dynamic aspects of DNA charge transfer: a theoretical perspective

In this work, we approach the impact of dynamic and static disorder on DNA charge transfer from a theoretical and numerical perspective. Disordered or defect geometries are either realized via molecular dynamics simulations using a classical force field or by experimentally determined DNA bulge structures. We apply a chemically specific, atomically resolved extended Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model to compute the energy parameters relevant to DNA charge transfer. For both models studied here, the effective donor-acceptor couplings--and hence the charge transfer rates--significantly depend upon the geometry. Dynamic disorder leads to a correlation time in this quantity of the order of 30 fs, and the transfer rates universally exhibit a broad, yet well-defined, exponential distribution. For DNA bulges, the angle characterizing the defect controls the charge transfer efficiency. The results are discussed and extensively compared to experimental findings and other calculations.