Predictability of designing specific binding interactions for DNA minor groove ligands from NMR spectroscopy and molecular modeling: a copper(II)-activated DNA cleaver based on Hoechst 33258

Analogs of Hoechst 33258 have been designed and synthesized to incorporate a 3,4-catecholic or a 3,4,5-trihydroxyphenyl function in place of the 4-phenolic group of the template molecule. Molecular design was based on the three-dimensional models of the solution structures of Hoechst 33258 and its m-hydroxy isomer which had been derived from high-field NMR spectroscopic analysis. The predicted solution structure of the catecholic analog as its minor groove complex with duplex d(CGCGAATTCGCG)₂ was confirmed by direct high-resolution NMR spectroscopy combined with molecular dynamics, using
NMR-derived distance restraints. While the 3,4-catecholic analog was unable to cleave DNA in the presence of Cu(II) ions, the 3,4,5-trihydroxyphenyl analog of Hoechst 33258 was found to be an effective cleaver of DNA at low concentration when activated by copper(II) ions, a difference ascribed to the inaccessibility for copper chelation of the 3,4-dihydroxy site in its minor groove complex with DNA.