Sequence specificity of drug-DNA interactions

Methods for determining sequence specificities of anticancer drugs, carcinogens, and mutagens which interact with natural DNA's are presented. For drugs which nick or covalently bind to DNA and thus leave a permanent record of their residence position on the helix, the sequences important in drug action can be readily determined. For agents which interact with DNA in an equilibrium fashion, "footprinting" analysis, a technique used to investigate protein-DNA binding, has proved to be useful in studying drug-DNA interactions. The sequence specificities of a number of small ligands which interact with natural DNA's are also presented.