Cyclic voltammetry of DNA at a mercury electrode: an anodic peak specific for guanine.

Synthetic homopolyribonucleotides poly(A), poly(U), poly(C), and poly(G), poly(A, G, U), apurinic acid and native and denatured DNA from calf thymus were analyzed by means of cyclic voltammetry (CV) using a hanging mercury drop electrode. It was shown that guanine containing polynucleotides, i.e. poly(G), poly(A, G, U) and DNA yield an anodic peak of guanine in the vicinity of a potential of -0.3 V (against a saturated calomel electrode). The guanine peak appeared only at a sufficiently negative switching potential (about -2 V). The appearance of the guanine peak was conditioned by a reduction of guanine residues in the region of the switching potential and reoxidation of the reduction product in the vicinity of -0.3 V. Native and thermally denatured DNAs were investigated under the conditions of both complete and incomplete coverage of the electrode in various background electrolytes. Both DNA forms yielded anodic CV peaks of guanine with the peak of denatured DNA being always higher than that of native DNA. Irradiation of native DNA with relatively small doses of gamma radiation (5-120 Gy) resulted in an increase of the anodic peak. A comparison of changes induced by gamma radiation in the anodic (guanine) and cathodic (reduction of adenine and cytosine) peaks showed a steeper increase of the cathodic peak as compared to that of the anodic one. It has been concluded that in the given dose range the DNA double-helical structure is mainly damaged in the adenine-thymine rich regions.