Dinucleotide Hydrolysis Promoted by Dinuclear Zn Complexes − The Effect of the Distance between Zn Ions in the Complexes on the Hydrolysis Rate

Abstract

The rate of hydrolysis of an RNA dimer, uridylyl(3′→5′)uridine (UpU), promoted by dinuclear Zn complexes resulting from a series of ligands with differently spaced Zn ion binding sites, was examined. Although the ligands in the present study have in common two di-2-pyridylmethylamino moieties as the Zn binding sites, the activities of these ligands toward the hydrolysis were quite different. Our results suggest that the distance between metal ion coordination sites is an essential factor for the intrinsic activities of the dinuclear complexes.