Hematoporphyrin-sensitized degradation of deoxyribose and DNA in high intensity near-UV picosecond pulsed laser photolysis

Abstract

The photosensitized degradation of deoxyribose and DNA, using hematoporphyrin (HP) and picosecond laser pulses at high intensities (pulse duration 30 ps, λ exc = 355 nm, light intensity range 10 8–10 10W/cm 2) was studied. Aldehyde formation from 2-deoxy- d-ribose and long-chain double-stranded DNA, when analyzed as a function of light intensity, followed a non-linear dependence, suggesting the involvement of multiphoton light absorption by HP. The degradation mechanism was studied by analysis of the yield dependence on excitation intensity and the effect of added radical scavengers. The participation of OH radicals in the degradation process was confirmed by spin trapping techniques. At low light intensities added N 2O largely increased product formation, suggesting that HP photoionization predominates under these conditions. At higher intensities (I ≥ 3 GW/cm 2) the product yield was not affected by N 2O which, combined with spin trapping data, suggested that OH radical formation occurred, but that neither HP photoionization nor peroxy radical formation was involved. Single and double strand breaks in supercoiled plasmid DNA (pBR 322) confirmed the generation of OH or OH-like radicals during high-intensity excitation of HP. A mechanism involving a multistep excitation of HP, followed by resonance energy transfer to H 2O resulting in dissociation to yield OH and H atoms, is proposed.