We have analysed the DNA cleavage reaction of DNA gyrase using oligonucleotides annealed to a single-stranded M13 derivative containing a preferred gyrase cleavage site. We find that gyrase can cleave duplexes down to approximately 20 bp in size in the presence of the quinolone drugs ciprofloxacin and oxolinic acid. Ciprofloxacin shows a variation in its site specificity with an apparent prefer...

DNA topoisomerase II modulates DNA topology by relieving supercoil stress and by unknotting or decatenating entangled DNA. During its reaction cycle, the enzyme creates a transient double-strand break in one DNA segment, the G-DNA. This break serves as a gate through which another DNA segment is transported. Defined topoisomerase II cleavage sites in genomic and plasmid DNA have been previously...

Eukaryotic DNA topoisomerase I introduces transient single-stranded breaks on double-stranded DNA and spontaneously breaks down single-stranded DNA. The cleavage sites on both single and double-stranded SV40 DNA have been determined by DNA sequencing. Consistent with other reports, the eukaryotic enzymes, in contrast to prokaryotic type I topoisomerases, links to the 3'-end of the cleaved DNA a...

Background Sperm DNA fragmentation is known as an important cause of male infertility. The influence of sperm DNA damage on reproductive potential has been subject of many studies indicating various results and remaining the subject controversial. In this study, we investigated differences of the semen parameters and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) outcome according to sperm DNA fragmen...

The roles of purified Int and Xis proteins of the conjugative transposon Tn 916 in excision of a deletion derivative of the closely related element Tn 1545 were investigated. At a low salt concentration (37.5 mM NaCl), Int alone was able to promote limited excision to produce a covalently closed circular form of the transposon, showing that Tn 916 Int can catalyze both DNA cleavage and strand e...

We report the synthesis and characterization of N,N-bis[(7-dimethylamino)phenothiazin-5-ium-3-yl]-4,4-ethylenedipiperidine diiodide (3), consisting of two photosensitizing phenothiazinium rings attached to a central ethylenedipiperidine linker. At all time points (10, 30, 60 min) and all wavelengths (676, 700, 710 nm) tested, photocleavage of pUC19 plasmid DNA (22 degrees C and pH 7.0) was mark...

4-(p-X-phenyl)thiosemicarbazone of napthaldehyde {where X = Cl (HL¹) and X = Br (HL²)}, thiosemicarbazone of quinoline-2-carbaldehyde (HL³) and 4-(p-fluorophenyl)thiosemicarbazone of salicylaldehyde (H₂L⁴) and their copper(I) {[Cu(HL¹)(PPh₃)₂Br]·CH₃CN (1) and [Cu(HL²)(PPh₃)₂Cl]·DMSO (2)} and copper(II) {[(Cu₂L³₂Cl)₂(μ-Cl)₂]·2H₂O (3) and [Cu(L⁴)(Py)] (4)} complexes are reported herein. The synth...

Leinamycin is a recently discovered, thiol-dependent DNA-cleaving natural product. The mechanism of DNA cleavage by leinamycin is unknown. Inspired by this intriguing natural product, we have investigated the DNA-cleaving properties of three 1,2-dithiolan-3-one 1-oxides (1-3) that are structurally related to the suspected DNA-cleaving "core" of leinamycin. It was found that, similar to leinamyc...

DNA gyrase negatively supercoils DNA. When the requisite breaking and resealing of the DNA are uncoupled by gyrase inhibitors, the DNA becomes cleaved at specific sites. ATP, the cofactor for supercoiling, changes the sites of DNA cleavage. The mechanism of this effect was studied at sites in ColEl and @X174 DNA at which ATP strikingly enhanced cleavage. The following results showed that this i...