Novel specific binding of copper ions to naturally modified base pairs involving 5-fluorouracil in duplex DNA

Abstract

Only mercury(II) and silver(I) ions are known to specifically bind to natural and naturally modified base pairs in duplex DNA to form metal-mediated base pairs. We found novel, specific binding of copper ions to naturally modified base pairs involving 5-fluorouracil (FdU) in duplex DNA, forming C–Cu–FdU and FdU–Cu–C base pairs.