Damage to Isolated DNA Mediated by Singlet Oxygen

Abstract

In the present work, we study the reaction of singlet oxygen (1O2) with isolated DNA. Emphasis is placed on the identification and quantitative measurement of the DNA modifications that are produced by the reaction of 1O2 with DNA. For this purpose, calf-thymus DNA was incubated with the endoperoxide of N,N′-di(2,3-dihydroxypropyl)-1,4-naphthalenedipropanamide, a chemical generator of 1O2. Thereafter, DNA was digested, and the resulting oxidized nucleosides were measured by means of a recently optimized high-performance-liquid-chromatography tandem-mass-spectrometry assay. It was found that, among the different DNA lesions observed, 7,8-dihydro-8-oxo-2′-deoxyguanosine is the major 1O2-mediated DNA-damage product. Interestingly, cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers, oxidized pyrimidine bases, 7,8-dihydro-8-oxo-2′-deoxyadenosine, and 2,6-diamino-5-formamido-4-hydroxypyrimidine are not formed, at least not in detectable amounts, following treatment of DNA with the 1O2 generator. The reported results strongly suggest that the decomposition of the endoperoxide provides a pure source of 1O2, and that reaction of 1O2 with isolated DNA induces the specific formation of 7,8-dihydro-8-oxo-2′-deoxyguanosine.