Actinomycin D as a Probe for Nucleic Acid Secondary Structure
This extract was created in the absence of an abstract.
Excerpt
The drug actinomycin D (AMD) has been shown to bind to DNA, provided the DNA contains guanine (Kirk, 1960, Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 42: 167; Rauen et al., 1960, Z. Physiol. Chem., 321: 139; Goldberg et al., 1962, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 48: 2094). Actinomycin interacts in solution with deoxyguanosine and guanosine, to a lesser extent with adenosine, and not at all with other nucleosides (Kersten, 1961, Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 47: 610). More recently, Hamilton, Fuller, and Reich (1963, Nature, 198: 538) have found that in fibers drawn from AMD-DNA complexes, the B → A conformational transition that normally occurs in DNA fibers as the humidity is lowered, is prevented. A model for the DNA-AMD complex was proposed by them, in which the AMD chromophore is hydrogen bonded to the amino group of guanine, N-3 of guanine, and the ring oxygen of deoxyribose. One of the features of this model is...
