Visible Light-Induced Radical Mediated DNA Damage.

Light-responsive compounds have been used to manipulate biological systems with spatial and temporal control of the event of interest. Illumination of alkylcobalamins with green light (>500 nm) produces carbon-centered radicals, which have been demonstrated to effectively cause DNA damage. Molecules that cause DNA and RNA strand scission are useful for studying polynucleotide structure and the binding of small molecules and proteins to polynucleotides.