The role played by type I (radical) and type II (singlet oxygen) mechanisms in the Ru
floxacin(RFX)-photoinduced production o
f 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine in DNA has been evaluated.This
fluoroquinolone drug has been shown to be able to photoinduce increased levels o
f someDNA base oxidation products, such as 8-OH-dGuo, that are indicative o
f mutagenic andcarcinogenic events, with probable implications in aging processes. The relative weight o
f thetwo photosensitization mechanisms was obtained via determination o
f two di
fferent photoproducts o
f 2'-deoxyguanosine (dGuo), which are diagnostic o
f the two di
fferent pathways,namely, (4
R*)- and (4
S*)-4,8-dihydro-4-hydroxy-8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine and 2,2-diamino-4-[(2-deoxy-
fchars/beta2.gi
f" BORDER=0 ALIGN="middle">-
D-erythro-pento
furanosyl)amino]-2,5-dihydrooxazol-5-one. The observed predominance o
f type II reaction is in agreement with the
fact that the triplet state o
f RFX is able totrans
fer with high e
fficiency its energy to molecular oxygen, giving rise to singlet oxygen.Photophysical measurements suggest that hydrated electrons produced by Ru
floxacin photoionization react with dGuo, Thd, and DNA, whereas these biomolecules quench the RFX tripletstate with low e
fficiency. Static quenching o
f Ru
floxacin
fluorescence indicates an interactiono
f this drug both with DNA and with dGuo. On the basis o
f these experimental data, Ru
floxacinphotosensitization o
f DNA is proposed to occur by a type II mechanism.