Targeted cleavage of polynucleotides by complementary oligonucleotides covalently linked to iron-porphyrins

Oligothymidylates covalently linked to iron-porphyrins were synthesized to target the nuclease activity of Fe-porphyrin to complementary polynucleotides. In the presence of oxygen and a reducing agent, oligo(dT)7 bearing the reactive group attached to the 3'-phosphate was shown to be active in the cleavage of poly(dA) and poly(rA) but not poly(dT). When poly(dA) was used as a matrix, the reaction yield was higher at low temperature where the complexes are stable; upon increasing temperature, the reaction yield decreased in agreement with the dissociation of the oligonucleotide-polynucleotide complex as measured by absorption spectroscopy. Thus, oligonucleotides covalently linked to iron-porphyrin derivatives can be used to cleave selectively the target sequence of the oligonucleotide.