Nuclease activity of copper(II) complex containing 1,10-phenanthroline-5,6-dione and L-phenylalanine ligands

The interaction between CT-DNA and a ternary copper (II) complex, [Cu(phendio)(L-Phe)(H₂O)](ClO₄)·H₂O (CuPP, phendio = 1,10-phenanthroline-5,6-dione, L-Phe = L-phenylalanine), has been conducted by electronic spectra, fluorescence spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. It has been found that the max. absorption peak from the electronic spectra is red shifted and the intensity is weakened and that the values of peak current from cyclic voltammetry are decreased significantly in the presence of DNA compared with that in the absence of DNA. At the same time, the complex can quench the emission intensity of EB-DNA system. The existence of the intercalation mode between the complex and DNA was proven. By submarine gel electrophoresis, we found that the copper(II) complex can cleave circular plasmid pBR322 DNA into nicked and linear forms in the presence of ascorbic acid and H₂O₂. __________ Translated from Acta Scientiarum Naturalium Universitatis Nankaiensis, 2007, 40(1): 32–36 [译自: 南开大学学报(自然科学版)]