Chemical processes induced by OH attack on nucleic acids

Abstract

Recent studies concerning the chemical processes in nucleic acids starting with OH attack to produce free radicals and ending with the formation of stable products were reviewed. Using nucleosides, nucleotides and homopolynucleotides as model compounds, and DNA itself, free radicals produced by OH attack on nucleic acids have been mainly studied by a method combining ESR, spin trapping and high-performance liquid chromatography. For identification of final products in both base and sugar moieties of nucleic acids, mass and NMR spectroscopies combined with gas chromatography or high-performance liquid chromatography are usually employed. Kinetic measurements of structural alterations in the polynucleotides and DNA after OH attack have been made by a method combining electron-pulse irradiation and laser-light scattering. From these studies, the chemical reaction processes from the generation of free radicals in nucleic acids by OH attack, through the formation of unstable intermediates, to the formation of final products can be described.