Photoreactivities of 5-bromouracil-containing RNAs

5-Bromouracil ((Br)U) was incorporated into three types of synthetic RNA and the products of the photoirradiated (Br)U-containing RNAs were investigated using HPLC and MS analysis. The photoirradiation of r(GCA(Br)UGC)(2) and r(CGAA(Br)UUGC)/r(GCAAUUCG) in A-form RNA produced the corresponding 2'-keto adenosine ((keto)A) product at the 5'-neighboring nucleotide, such as r(GC(keto)AUGC) and r(CGA(keto)AUUGC), respectively. The photoirradiation of r(CGCG(Br)UGCG)/r(C(m)GCAC(m)GCG) in Z-form RNA produced the 2'-keto guanosine ((keto)G) product r(CGC(keto)GUGCG), whereas almost no products were observed from the photoirradiation of r(CGCG(Br)UGCG)/r(C(m)GCAC(m)GCG) in A-form RNA. The present results indicate clearly that hydrogen (H) abstraction by the photochemically generated uracil-5-yl radical selectively occurs at the C2' position to provide a 2'-keto RNA product.