Dimeric Fe-Co phthalocyanine complex as a reagent for the selective damage of nucleic acids

Abstract

The complexes of FeII and CoII with phthalocyanines are extremely good catalysts for oxidation of organic compounds with molecular oxygen and hydrogen peroxide. Their solubility and reactivity are increased by conjugation with oligonucleotides and by formation of dimeric complexes between negatively and positively charged phthalocyanines. In our work such complexes were formed directly on single-stranded DNA through interaction between negatively charged CoII phthalocyanine in conjugate and positively charged FeII phthalocyanine in solution. The resulting oppositely charged phthalocyanine complexes showed significant increase of catalytic activity compared with monomeric forms of phthalocyanines FeII. The site-directed modification of single- and double-stranded DNA by H2O2 in the presence of dimeric complexes of negatively charged CoII and positively charged FeII phthalocyanines was detected. These complexes catalyzed the DNA oxidation with high efficacy and led to direct DNA strand cleavage. © ISUCT Publishing.