Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 15 January 1999:
Vol. 283. no. 5400, pp. 375 - 381
DOI: 10.1126/science.283.5400.375
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Electron Transfer Between Bases in Double Helical DNA

Shana O. Kelley, Jacqueline K. Barton *

Fluorescent analogs of adenine that selectively oxidize guanine were used to investigate photoinduced electron transfer through the DNA pi -stack as a function of reactant stacking and energetics. Small variations in these factors led to profound changes in the kinetics and distance dependences of DNA-mediated electron-transfer reactions. Values of beta , a parameter reflecting the dependence of electron transfer on distance, ranged from 0.1 to 1.0 per angstrom. Strong stacking interactions result in the fastest electron-transfer kinetics. Electrons are thus transported preferentially through an intrastrand rather than interstrand pathway. Reactant energetics also modulate the distance dependence of DNA-mediated charge transport. These studies may resolve the range of disparate results previously reported, and paradigms must now be developed to describe these properties of the DNA pi -stack, which can range from insulator- to "wire"-like.

Beckman Institute, Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.jkbarton{at}cco.caltech.edu
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Time-resolved fluorescence studies of nucleotide flipping by restriction enzymes.
R. K. Neely, G. Tamulaitis, K. Chen, M. Kubala, V. Siksnys, and A. C. Jones (2009)
Nucleic Acids Res. 37, 6859-6870
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Base Sequence and Higher-Order Structure Induce the Complex Excited-State Dynamics in DNA.
N. K. Schwalb and F. Temps (2008)
Science 322, 243-245
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
UV excitation of single DNA and RNA strands produces high yields of exciplex states between two stacked bases.
T. Takaya, C. Su, K. de La Harpe, C. E. Crespo-Hernandez, and B. Kohler (2008)
PNAS 105, 10285-10290
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Characterization and use of an unprecedentedly bright and structurally non-perturbing fluorescent DNA base analogue.
P. Sandin, K. Borjesson, H. Li, J. Martensson, T. Brown, L. M. Wilhelmsson, and B. Albinsson (2008)
Nucleic Acids Res. 36, 157-167
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Electron attachment to DNA single strands: gas phase and aqueous solution.
J. Gu, Y. Xie, and H. F. Schaefer III (2007)
Nucleic Acids Res. 35, 5165-5172
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Charge transfer through DNA nanoscaled assembly programmable with DNA building blocks.
Y. Osakada, K. Kawai, M. Fujitsuka, and T. Majima (2006)
PNAS 103, 18072-18076
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Complementary base-pair-facilitated electron tunneling for electrically pinpointing complementary nucleobases.
T. Ohshiro and Y. Umezawa (2006)
PNAS 103, 10-14
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Molecular beacons with intrinsically fluorescent nucleotides..
A. A. Marti, S. Jockusch, Z. Li, J. Ju, and N. J. Turro (2006)
Nucleic Acids Res. 34, e50
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Time-resolved fluorescence of 2-aminopurine as a probe of base flipping in M.HhaI-DNA complexes.
R. K. Neely, D. Daujotyte, S. Grazulis, S. W. Magennis, D. T. F. Dryden, S. Klimasauskas, and A. C. Jones (2005)
Nucleic Acids Res. 33, 6953-6960
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Extended Upstream A-T Sequence Increases T7 Promoter Strength.
G.-Q. Tang, R. P. Bandwar, and S. S. Patel (2005)
J. Biol. Chem. 280, 40707-40713
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Fluorescent properties of DNA base analogue tC upon incorporation into DNA -- negligible influence of neighbouring bases on fluorescence quantum yield.
P. Sandin, L. M. Wilhelmsson, P. Lincoln, V. E. C. Powers, T. Brown, and B. Albinsson (2005)
Nucleic Acids Res. 33, 5019-5025
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
From the Cover: Long-range oxidative damage to cytosines in duplex DNA.
F. Shao, M. A. O'Neill, and J. K. Barton (2004)
PNAS 101, 17914-17919
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Electron transfer in DNA duplexes containing 2-methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone.
F. Bergeron, D. Houde, D. J. Hunting, and J. R. Wagner (2004)
Nucleic Acids Res. 32, 6154-6163
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Direct observation of hole transfer through double-helical DNA over 100 A.
T. Takada, K. Kawai, M. Fujitsuka, and T. Majima (2004)
PNAS 101, 14002-14006
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Charge equilibration between two distinct sites in double helical DNA.
S. Delaney, J. Yoo, E. D. A. Stemp, and J. K. Barton (2004)
PNAS 101, 10511-10516
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Unusual 2-aminopurine fluorescence from a complex of DNA and the EcoKI methyltransferase.
T.-J. Su, B. A. Connolly, C. Darlington, R. Mallin, and D. T. F. Dryden (2004)
Nucleic Acids Res. 32, 2223-2230
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
DNA-mediated charge transport for DNA repair.
E. M. Boon, A. L. Livingston, N. H. Chmiel, S. S. David, and J. K. Barton (2003)
PNAS 100, 12543-12547
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The RNA-protein complex: Direct probing of the interfacial recognition dynamics and its correlation with biological functions.
T. Xia, H.-C. Becker, C. Wan, A. Frankel, R. W. Roberts, and A. H. Zewail (2003)
PNAS 100, 8119-8123
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
From the Cover: Photocleavage of a 2-nitrobenzyl linker bridging a fluorophore to the 5' end of DNA.
X. Bai, Z. Li, S. Jockusch, N. J. Turro, and J. Ju (2003)
PNAS 100, 409-413
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Inaugural Article: Effects of strand and directional asymmetry on base-base coupling and charge transfer in double-helical DNA.
M. A. O'Neill and J. K. Barton (2002)
PNAS 99, 16543-16550
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Long-range oxidative damage in duplex DNA: the effect of bulged G in a G-C tract and tandem G/A mispairs.
E. Boone and G. B. Schuster (2002)
Nucleic Acids Res. 30, 830-837
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Biomolecular processes in the fast lane.
M. A. Ratner (2001)
PNAS 98, 387-389
   Full Text »    PDF »
Femtosecond direct observation of charge transfer between bases in DNA.
C. Wan, T. Fiebig, O. Schiemann, J. K. Barton, and A. H. Zewail (2000)
PNAS
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Aptamers: An Emerging Class of Molecules That Rival Antibodies in Diagnostics.
S. D. Jayasena (1999)
Clin. Chem. 45, 1628-1650
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Long-distance charge transport in duplex DNA: The phonon-assisted polaron-like hopping mechanism.
P. T. Henderson, D. Jones, G. Hampikian, Y. Kan, and G. B. Schuster (1999)
PNAS 96, 8353-8358
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Femtosecond dynamics of DNA-mediated electron transfer.
C. Wan, T. Fiebig, S. O. Kelley, C. R. Treadway, J. K. Barton, and A. H. Zewail (1999)
PNAS 96, 6014-6019
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Femtochemistry uncovers the nature of electron transfer reactions.
A. W. Castleman Jr., Q. Zhong, and S. M. Hurley (1999)
PNAS 96, 4219-4220
   Full Text »    PDF »
Peculiar 2-Aminopurine Fluorescence Monitors the Dynamics of Open Complex Formation by Bacteriophage T7 RNA Polymerase.
R. P. Bandwar and S. S. Patel (2001)
J. Biol. Chem. 276, 14075-14082
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Polarons in DNA.
E. M. Conwell and S. V. Rakhmanova (2000)
PNAS 97, 4556-4560
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Femtosecond direct observation of charge transfer between bases in DNA.
C. Wan, T. Fiebig, O. Schiemann, J. K. Barton, and A. H. Zewail (2000)
PNAS 97, 14052-14055
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)