Theoretical studies on interactions between low energy electrons and protein-DNA fragments: valence anions of AT-amino acids side chain complexes.

Electron attachment to trimeric complexes that mimic most frequent hydrogen bonding interactions between an amino acid side chain (AASC) and the Watson-Crick (WC) 9-methyladenine-1-methylthymine (MAMT) base pair has been studied at the B3LYP/6-31++G(d,p) level of theory. Although the neutral trimers will not occur in the gas phase due to unfavorable free energy of stabilization (G(stab)) they should form a protein-DNA complex where entropy changes related to formation of such a complex will more than balance its disadvantageous G(stab). The most stable neutrals possess an identical pattern of hydrogen bonds (HBs). In addition, the proton-acceptor (N7) and proton-donor (N10) atoms of adenine involved in those HBs are located in the main groove of DNA. All neutral structures support the adiabatically stable valence anions in which the excess electron is localized on a π* orbital of thymine. The vertical detachment energies (VDEs) of anions corresponding to the most stable neutrals are substantially smaller than that of the isolated WC MAMT base pair. Hence, electron transfer from the anionic thymine to the phosphate group and as a consequence formation of a single strand break (SSB) should proceed more efficiently in a protein-dsDNA complex than in the naked dsDNA as far as electron attachment to thymine is concerned.

The anionic (9-methyladenine)-(1-methylthymine) base pair solvated by formic acid. A computational and photoelectron spectroscopy study.

The photoelectron spectrum for (1-methylthymine)-(9-methyladenine)...(formic acid) (1MT-9MA...FA) anions with the maximum at ca. 1.87 eV was recorded with 2.54 eV photons and interpreted through the quantum-chemical modeling carried out at the B3LYP/6-31+G(d,p) level. The relative free energies of the anions and their calculated vertical detachment energies suggest that only seven anionic structures contribute to the observed PES signal. We demonstrate that electron binding to the (1MT-9MA...FA) complex can trigger intermolecular proton transfer from formic acid, leading to the strong stabilization of the resulting radical anion. The SOMO distribution indicates that an excess electron may localize not only on the pyrimidine but also on the purine moiety. The biological context of DNA-environment interactions concerning the formation of single-strand breaks induced by excess electrons has been briefly discussed.

Photoelectron spectroscopy of adiabatically bound valence anions of rare tautomers of the nucleic acid bases.

Anionic states of nucleic acid bases (NABs) are involved in DNA damage by low-energy electrons and in charge transfer through DNA. Previous gas phase studies of free, unsolvated NAB parent anions probed mostly dipole-bound states, which are not present in condensed phase environments. Recently, we demonstrated that very rare tautomers of uracil (U), cytosine (C), adenine (A), and guanine (G), which are obtained from canonical tautomers through N-to-C proton transfers, support valence anionic states. Here we report the photoelectron spectrum of the final member of the NABs series: the valence state of the thymine (T) anion. Additionally, we summarized the work of all five NABs. All of the newfound anionic tautomers of the NABs may be formed via dissociative electron attachment followed by hydrogen atom reattachment to a carbon atom. Furthermore, these unusual tautomers may affect the structure and properties of DNA and RNA exposed to low-energy electrons. The new valence states observed here, unlike dipole bound states, could exist in condensed phases and may be relevant to radiobiological damage.

Valence anions in complexes of adenine and 9-methyladenine with formic acid: stabilization by intermolecular proton transfer.

Photoelectron spectra of adenine-formic acid (AFA(-)) and 9-methyladenine-formic acid (MAFA(-)) anionic complexes have been recorded with 2.540 eV photons. These spectra reveal broad features with maxima at 1.5-1.4 eV that indicate formation of stable valence anions in the gas phase. The neutral and anionic complexes of adenine/9-methyladenine and formic acid were also studied computationally at the B3LYP, second-order Møller-Plesset, and coupled-cluster levels of theory with the 6-31++G** and aug-cc-pVDZ basis sets. The neutral complexes form cyclic hydrogen bonds, and the most stable dimers are bound by 17.7 and 16.0 kcal/mol for AFA and MAFA, respectively. The theoretical results indicate that the excess electron in both AFA(-) and MAFA(-) occupies a pi* orbital localized on adenine/9-methyladenine, and the adiabatic stability of the most stable anions amounts to 0.67 and 0.54 eV for AFA(-) and MAFA(-), respectively. The attachment of the excess electron to the complexes induces a barrier-free proton transfer (BFPT) from the carboxylic group of formic acid to a N atom of adenine or 9-methyladenine. As a result, the most stable structures of the anionic complexes can be characterized as neutral radicals of hydrogenated adenine (9-methyladenine) solvated by a deprotonated formic acid. The BFPT to the N atoms of adenine may be biologically relevant because some of these sites are not involved in the Watson-Crick pairing scheme and are easily accessible in the cellular environment. We suggest that valence anions of purines might be as important as those of pyrimidines in the process of DNA damage by low-energy electrons.

On the unusual stability of valence anions of thymine based on very rare tautomers: A computational study.

We characterized anionic states of thymine using various electronic structure methods, with the most accurate results obtained at the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVDZ level of theory followed by extrapolations to complete basis set limits. We found that the most stable anion in the gas phase is related to an imino-oxo tautomer, in which the N1H proton is transferred to the C5 atom. This valence anion, aT(c5)(nl), is characterized by an electron vertical detachment energy (VDE) of 1251 meV and it is adiabatically stable with respect to the canonical neutral nT(can) by 2.4 kcal/mol. It is also more stable than the dipole-bound (aT(dbs)(can)), and valence anion aT(val)(can) of the canonical tautomer. The VDE values for aT(dbs)(can)and T(val)(can) are 55 and 457 meV, respectively. Another, anionic, low-lying imino-oxo tautomer with a VDE of 2458 meV has a proton transferred from N3H to C5 aT(c5)(n3). It is less stable than aT(val)(can) by 3.3 kcal/mol. The mechanism of formation of anionic tautomers with the carbons C5 or C6 protonated may involve intermolecular proton transfer or dissociative electron attachment to the canonical neutral tautomer followed by a barrier-free attachment of a hydrogen atom to C5. The six-member ring structure of the anionic tautomers with carbon atoms protonated is unstable upon an excess electron detachment. Within the PCM hydration model, the low-lying valence anions become adiabatically bound with respect to the canonical neutral; becomes the most stable, being followed by aT(c5)(nl), aT(c5)(n3), aT(can), and aT(c5)(nl).