Nearest-neighbor nitrogen and oxygen distances in the iron(II)-DNA complex studied by extended X-ray absorption fine structure.

In mammalian cells, DNA-bound Fe(II) reacts with H₂O₂ producing the highly reactive hydroxyl radical (OH) in situ. Since ·OH attacks nearby DNA residue generating oxidative DNA damage, many questions have arisen regarding iron-DNA complex formations and their implication in pre-malignant mutations and aging. In this work, a solid sample of Fe(II)-DNA complex containing one Fe(II) per 10 nucleotides was analyzed from extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectra collected in a synchrotron radiation light source. Best fitting parameters of the EXAFS signal for the first two shells provide evidence of five oxygen atoms at 1.99 ± 0.02 Å and one nitrogen atom at 2.20 ± 0.02 Å in the inner coordination sphere of the Fe(II)-DNA complex. Considering that both purine base moieties bearing nitrogen atoms are prone to chelate iron, these results are consistent with the previously observed lower levels of DNA damage in cytosine nucleotides relative to adenine and guanine sites in cells under more physiological conditions of Fe(II) Fenton reaction.