Photoinduced electron transfer and strand cleavage in pyrenyl-DNA complexes and adducts

The fluorescence of pyrenyl residues in complexes with the nucleic acid bases G, C and T, but not A, is strongly quenched by photoinduced electron transfer mechanisms. Site-specifically modified 11-mer oligonucleotide duplexes containing a single modified guanosyl base G* bearing a covalently attached pyrenyl residue were prepared in order to probe for photochemical damage associated with these photoinduced electron transfer reactions. When the pyrenyl residue positioned at G* is photoexcited with 355 nm light, direct strand cleavage is observed at that site with low quantum yield. Frank strand breaks are also observed up to five base pairs away from G*, suggesting that intrastrand migration of a reactive intermediate from base to base is occurring.