Study of the alkylation behaviors of antitumor agents to DNA using a quartz crystal resonator in PEG-DNA solution

 The alkylation of DNA by antitumor agents such as mechlorethamine hydrochloride (mustargen), thiophosphoramide (TSPA), mitomycin c (MMC), bleomycin-A₅ and dacarbazine (DTIC) can be detected with quartz crystal resonators (QCR). In the course of alkylation, the resonator frequency change in polyethylene glycol (PEG)-DNA solutions follows the cross-linking of DNA and the cleavage of the sugarphosphate backbone of DNA. It is at least partly attributed to the viscosity change of the PEG-DNA solution and possibly to some extent to the change of mass adsorbed on the QCR surface due to cross-linking and cleavage. Experimental results are consistent with that expected from theory. Received: 15 April 1996 / Revised: 3 July 1996 / Accepted: 9 July 1996