Analytical Sciences


Abstract − Analytical Sciences, 19(8), 1099 (2003).

Spectroscopic and ElectrochemicalStudies of DNA Breakage Induced by Dopamine and Copper Ion
Jun LIU,*  QingwenLI,** Yadong YU,* and Xiang FANG*
*National Research Center for CertifiedReference Materials, Beijing, 100013, P. R. China
**College of Chemistryand Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, P. R.China
Dopamine may show some biological activitiesin antitumor and cell apoptosis. Herein, we attempted to employ UV-Vis,CD, and electrochemical methods to investigate the interaction between DNAand dopamine. Both the spectroscopic and electrochemical evidenceindicated that dopamine, which was a cation, could interact with polyanionDNA. However, this kind of interaction, mainly by a static electronicforce, did not result in any damage of the DNA structure. This situationwas quite different when Cu ion was added to the dopamine-DNA system; anobvious change in the color of the solution and in the spectra of UV-Visand CD showed that some chemical changes occurred in this system, and thatthe DNA native structure was destroyed. The results of gel electrophoresfurther revealed that DNA might be broken into small segments by dopaminein the presence of Cu ion. The possible reaction mechanisms arediscussed.