M. Fernandez-saiz et al., Selective photocleavage of DNA and RNA by anthraquinone derivatives: Targeting the single-strand region of hairpin structures, PHOTOCHEM P, 70(6), 1999, pp. 847-852
A tetracationic anthraquinone derivative (27AQS2) binds to hairpin DNA and
RNA. Ultraviolet irradiation of the bound quinone causes cleavage in the lo
op region of both oligonucleotides and at guanines in the stem region of th
e DNA hairpin. The absence of observable strand cleavage at guanines in the
RNA hairpin suggests that either aniline treatment does not cause cleavage
at damaged guanines in RNA or that radical cation migration does not occur
readily in RNA duplexes. The ability to target the single-stranded regions
of DNA and RNA structures is an important property of this photonuclease.