Human telomeric G-quadruplex DNA interactions of N-phenanthroline glycosylamine copper(II) complexes

We report in this article the interactions of five N-(1,10-phenanthrolin-5-yl)-β-glycopyranosylamine copper(II) complexes with G-quadruplex DNA. Specifically, the interactions of these compounds with a human telomeric oligonucleotide have been assessed by fluorescence-based assays (FRET melting and G4-FID), circular dichroism and competitive equilibrium dialysis experiments. The metal complexes bind and stabilize G-quadruplex DNA structures with apparent association constants in the order of 104–105 M−1 and the affinity observed is dependent on the ionic conditions utilized and the specific nature of the carbohydrate moiety tethered to the 1,10-phenanthroline system. The compounds showed only a slight preference to bind G-quadruplex DNA over duplex DNA when the quadruplex DNA was folded in sodium ionic conditions. However, the binding affinity and selectivity, although modest, were notably increased when the G-quadruplex DNA was folded in the presence of potassium metal ions. Moreover, the study points towards a significant contribution of groove and/or loop binding in the recognition mode of quadruplex structures by these non-classical quadruplex ligands. The results reported herein highlight the potential and the versatility of carbohydrate bis-phenanthroline metal-complex conjugates to recognize G-quadruplex DNA structures.

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