Single-strand cleavage of DNA by Cu(II) and thiols: a powerful chemical DNA-cleaving system.

Reduced lipoic acid, in the presence of cupric ions, introduced single-strand nicks into pSP64 plasmid DNA at micromolar concentrations, converting the supercoiled into open circular and, eventually, linear forms. The metal ion specificity of the reaction was investigated and, of Cu2+, Co2+, Cr3+, Fe3+, Fe2+, Ni2+, Mn2+ and Zn2+, only Cu2+ ions were catalysts for the thiol-induced DNA cleavage at these low concentrations. A wide range of thiols and dithiols was found to be active as DNA cleavers in the presence of Cu2+ ions.

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