Calculated distortions induced by metal-ion binding to simple oligonucleotide systems: Implications for toxicity.

摘要

We have previously published detailed results of calculations of the binding of the metal ions, Cd(sup 2+) and Ca(sup 2+), to the dinucleoside monophosphate GpC in water. These ions, which have the same charge and radius, differ enormously in their toxicity to man and other biological systems. Our calculations showed contrasting behavior in the binding of these two metal ions to GpC. We suggest the hypothesis that structural distortions calculated for metal ions binding to simple nucleic-acid systems might serve as a indicator of an ion's potential ability to alter molecular activity and hence to be toxic to an organism. Furthermore, the degree of distortion might be correlated with the degree of toxicity as measured by some suitable criteria. The present paper reports the results of binding calculations for a number of other metal ions, of different valence states, with several dinucleoside monophosphates in water. A general trend of distortion with the type of binding of the metal ions is found. We are seeking quantitative measures of distortion to correlate with indicators of acute toxicity that we have measured for 24 metal ions using mice, Drosophila, and CHO cells. 3 refs., 3 figs.