Photophysical properties of gilvocarcins V and M and their binding constant to calf thymus DNA

Absorption and emission techniques were used to characterize the ground (S0), singlet (S1) and triplet states (T1) of gilvocarcin V (GV) and gilvocarcin M (GM) in different solvents. Aggregation of GV with dimerization constant equal to 7800 M-1 is observed in 10% dimethyl-sulfoxide (DMSO)/water. The photophysical properties of the S1 state of these molecules are more sensitive to changes in solvent characteristics than the corresponding ground states. The absorption of visible light by GV and GM results in a higher dipole moment of the excited state causing a red shift in the fluorescence spectra with increasing solvent polarity. The fluorescence quantum yield remains practically unchanged with changes in solvent properties unless water is present as a co-solvent. Both phi f and tau f values corresponding to GV in DMSO are larger than those of GM, whereas in 10% DMSO/H2O the opposite is observed. Thus, GV is more susceptible to other deactivation pathways besides emission in the presence of water than GM. The relative phosphorescence quantum yield (phi p = 0.03) and the triplet energy (ET = 52 kcal/mol) of GV and GM are similar. The S0-S1 energy difference is 63 kcal/mol for GV, whereas for GM it is 67. Thus, the singlet-triplet energy difference is 11 and 15 kcal/mol, respectively. The PM3/CI calculated electronic structures of these compounds are consistent with the observed photophysical properties. The dark binding constants of GV to calf thymus DNA ([1.1-0.08] x 10(6) M-1) are about an order of magnitude larger than those of GM ([0.24-0.018] x 10(6) M-1) at different ionic strengths (0-2.00 M NaCl). Also, the number of gilvocarcin molecules bound per base pair is smaller for GM than for GV. These differences in dark DNA binding parameters between GV and GM could have implications in the large photocytotoxic ability of GV as compared to GM.