Electron Transfer through DNA in the Course of Radical-Induced Strand Cleavage.

No benefit from base stacking is observed for rates of electron transfer in DNA. This conclusion was drawn from experiments with a new DNA assay in which a radical cationic site, generated by strand cleavage, can be reduced by the guanine bases in the same DNA (the electron transfer is indicated by arrows in the diagram). The distance dependence of this electron transfer step is determined by the chemical yield of the reduction product. © 1998 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH, Weinheim, Fed. Rep. of Germany.