Sequence specific interaction of the antiretrovirally active drug hypericin with 5'ATGGCAGGATAT3' oligonucleotide: a...

The resonance Raman spectra of two oligonucleotides and their complexes with potent antiretrovirally and antineoplastic active photochemical drug hypericin are reported. The Raman spectra of two oligonucleotides containing twelve base pairs on addition of hypericin (one and two molecules per one oligonucleotide) were compared. The first one contains the first nine base pairs of the "rev" gene coming from HIV genome with three base pairs added to stabilize the duplex (5'ATGGCAGGATAT3') and the second one consists of the same content of the nucleotide bases but in changed sequence order which serves as a control sequence (5'ACGTGATGATGA3'). Differences in the spectra of the "rev" gene sequence and control sequence in interaction with the drug indicate that: i) the AG and GA nucleotide doublets are structurally specific targets for hypericin and ii) the hypericin interaction with 5'AG3' target is stronger than with 5'GA3' one.