An ab initio molecular orbital study on the characteristics of 8-hydroxyguanine.

To investigate the mechanism by which the 8-hydroxyguanine residue in DNA affects the fidelity of DNA replication, the intrinsic properties of this modified base were investigated using an ab initio molecular orbital method. The most stable 8-hydroxyguanine form was revealed to be 6,8-diketo. The addition of an oxygen atom to the 8 position of a guanine base was shown to change the electrostatic potential of the molecule entirely and to give it a negative character. This effect may influence the local structure of 8-hydroxyguanine-containing DNA and the interaction with DNA polymerase, thereby resulting in infidelity of DNA replication.