Metal-Catalyzed RNA Strand Scission

Two novel approaches have been employed for mediating RNA strand scission under physiological conditions. One of these involved strand scission by an Fez+ chelate of the antitumor antibiotic bleomycin; the other involved a novel Mn2+-dependent cleavage of an RNA hairpin at a specific site. Bleomycin-mediated RNA cleavage was oxidative in nature, while the Mn2+-promoted cleavage of the hairpin occurred by a solvolytic mechanism.