The photoinduced transformation of fluorescent DNA base analogue tC triggers DNA melting
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2013

While fluorescent analogues of the canonical nucleobases have proven to be highly valuable in a large number of applications, up until today, fluorescent DNA base analogues remain virtually inapplicable for single-molecule fluorescence experiments which require extremely bright and photostable dyes. Insight into the photodegradation processes of these fluorophores is thus a key step in the continuous development towards dyes with improved performances. Here, we show that the commercially available fluorescent nucleobase analogue tC under intense long-term illumination and in the presence of O-2 is degraded to form a single photoreaction product which we suggest to be the sulfoxide form of tC. The photoproduct is characterized by a blue-shifted absorption and a less intense fluorescence compared to that of tC. Interestingly, when tC is positioned inside double-stranded DNA this photodriven conversion of tC to its photoproduct greatly reduces the duplex stability of the overall double helix in which the probe is positioned. Since tC can be excited selectively at 400 nm, well outside the absorption band of the natural DNA bases, this observation points towards the application of tC as a general light-triggered switch of DNA duplex stability.

Författare

S. Preus

Köpenhamns universitet

Aarhus Universitet

S. Jonck

Köpenhamns universitet

M. Pittelkow

Köpenhamns universitet

Anke Dierckx

Chalmers, Kemi- och bioteknik, Fysikalisk kemi

T. M. Karpkird

Chalmers, Kemi- och bioteknik

Bo Albinsson

Chalmers, Kemi- och bioteknik, Fysikalisk kemi

Marcus Wilhelmsson

Chalmers, Kemi- och bioteknik, Fysikalisk kemi

Photochemical and Photobiological Sciences

1474-905X (ISSN) 1474-9092 (eISSN)

Vol. 12 8 1416-1422

Styrkeområden

Nanovetenskap och nanoteknik

Livsvetenskaper och teknik (2010-2018)

Ämneskategorier

Fysikalisk kemi

Fundament

Grundläggande vetenskaper

DOI

10.1039/c3pp50057h

Mer information

Senast uppdaterat

2018-05-08