Formation of intrastrand cross-link products between cytosine and adenine from UV irradiation of d(BrCA) and duplex DNA containing a 5-bromocytosine

Here, we showed that Pyrex-filtered UV light irradiation of d((Br)CA) gave rise to three types of intrastrand cross-link products, that is, d(C[5-N(6])A), d(C[5-2]A), and d(C[5-8]A), where the C5 carbon atom of cytosine is covalently bonded to the N-6 nitrogen atom, C2, and C8 carbon atoms of adenine, respectively. Furthermore, we demonstrated by LC-MS/MS that the UV irradiation of a 5-bromocytosine-containing duplex oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) led to the formation of five cross-link products, that is, C[5-N-6]A, C[5-2]A, C[5-8]A, A[2-5]C, and A[8-5]C, under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. LC-MS/MS quantification results showed that the yields for the formation of these cross-link products are different. The presence of molecular oxygen reduces the yields for the formation of all cross-link products except A[2-5]C. To our knowledge, this is the first report about the formation of intrastrand cross-link products between cytosine and adenine in duplex DNA. The chemistry discovered here may facilitate the future preparations of oxidative cross-link lesion-bearing substrates for biochemical and biophysical studies.