Daunomycin inverts the long-range chirality of DNA condensed states

Abstract

The effect of daunomycin upon DNA condensed states induced by poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) was studied by circular dichroism (CD) and circular intensity differential scattering (CIDS). The CD spectra of these aggregates showed psi-type anomalies and intensities 10-100 times greater than those obtained with the dispersed DNA solutions in the absence of PEG. Increasing concentrations of daunomycin, added to the DNA solution prior to its aggregation, led, in the presence of PEG, to CD and CIDS signals which gradually decreased in magnitude and eventually inverted sign. The coincidence of the transition point of both signals and a careful characterization of the CD spectrum at the transition point clearly indicated that the inversion observed corresponds to an inversion of the handedness of the aggregates. The latter result suggests that the structure of the aggregates at the inversion point should resemble that of a nematic liquid-crystalline structure. The characteristic B-DNA spectrum obtained in this case further suggests that the packing process does not affect the secondary structure of the DNA molecules and that small changes in their local structure can induce dramatic changes in their long-range tertiary packing. The results obtained in this study represent a confirmation of a recent theory of psi-type CD in which the anomalous signals are interpreted as a manifestation of the long-range chirality of the aggregates.