Condensation and salt-induced decondensation of DNA upon incorporation of a V-shaped luminescent [Ru2(bpy)4(mbpibH2)](4+).

This paper first reports on the condensation of DNA to a tightly packed state induced by a V-shaped di-ruthenium(II) complex [Ru2(bpy)4(mbpibH2)]Cl4 (bpy=2,2'-bipyridine and mbpibH2=1,3-bis([1,10]phenanthroline[5,6-d]imidazol-2-yl)benzene), which binds to the groove of herring sperm DNA (hsDNA) with the binding constant of 2.0×10(7)M(-1) (0.05M NaCl, pH7.2). The di-Ru(II) complex is found to induce the condensation of both hsDNA to long chain-like particle clusters and originally circular plasmid pBR322 DNA to particulate structure under neutral conditions. More interestingly, the presence of NaCl has a significant impact on the condensation and decondensation of DNA upon incorporation of [Ru2(bpy)4(mbpibH2)](4+), representing tunable luminescence characteristics by NaCl. High salt concentration facilitates the decondensation of DNA-[Ru2(bpy)4(mbpibH2)](4+) adducts. The results from this study offer an effective method to control the condensation and decondensation of DNA upon incorporation of luminescent concentrators.