Radiation chemistry of a dinucleoside monophosphate and its sequence isomer

A combination of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used to analyze the products of X-irradiated aqueous solutions of the dinucleoside monophosphate thymidylyl(3'-5')-2'-deoxyadenosine, d(TpA), and its sequence isomer 2'-deoxyadenylyl(3'-5')thymidine, d(ApT). The products of d(TpA) include both bases and nucleotides and a variety of thymine modifications of d(TpA) including the two cis and two trans glycol stereoisomers, two cis monohydroxy derivatives, an N-formamide derivative, and the hydroxymethyl derivative. Attention is focused on using NMR spectral features to distinguish among the various stereoisomers. The radiation chemistry of d(ApT) is also explored and differences in product formation compared with d(TpA) are described, particularly the formation of two products involving modification of adenine base. The potential of the HPLC-NMR approach to the study of radiation chemistry in DNA model compounds is discussed.