Mechanism of action of acetyl kidamycin. I. Interaction with DNA

Acetyl kidamycin, an antitumor antibiotic, was strongly bound to DNA in vitro, consequently, the melting temperature of DNA was significantly increased, and its buoyant density was decreased. From these results, it was suggested that acetyl kidamycin stabilized residual links between complementary strands by binding to DNA. An additional action was observed in that acetyl kidamycin caused single-strand scission of DNA in an alkaline sucrose density gradient solution.