Oxidative thymine mutation in DNA: water-wire-mediated proton-coupled electron transfer

One-electron oxidation of A/T-rich DNA leads to mutations at thymine. Experimental investigation of DNA containing methyl-deuterated thymine reveals a large isotope effect establishing that cleavage of this carbon-hydrogen bond is involved in the rate-determining step of the reaction. First-principles quantum calculations reveal that the radical cation (electron hole) generated by DNA oxidation, initially located on adenines, localizes on thymine as the proton is lost from the methyl group, demonstrating the role of proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) in thymine oxidation. Proton transport by structural diffusion along a segmented "water-wire" culminates in proton solvation in the hydration environment, serving as an entropic reservoir that inhibits reversal of the PCET process. These findings provide insight into mutations in A/T-rich DNA such as replication fork stalling that is implicated in early stage carcinogenesis.