Elektronentransfergetriebene Reparatur und zelluläre Erkennung von DNA-Photoschäden (English shop)

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More than 100 years after its discovery, DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) continues to exert an undiminished fascination on scientists of all disciplines. One reason for this is the enormous biological and medical importance of DNA, which arises from its role as the carrier of genetic information. Damage can lead to mutations and thus ultimately to cancer, ageing phenomena or, in the final consequence, to the death of the affected cell. The study of the processes that control DNA repair and thereby preserve genomic integrity is therefore of vital interest and is being pursued intensively.

Another important aspect, which appeals particularly to chemists and physicists, is DNA as a self-organising system that is structurally programmable through the base sequence. On the basis of this platform, it appears possible to generate DNA-based nanostructures in a targeted manner which, owing to the pi-stacking interactions within the strands, could also possess a certain conductivity. The study of charge transfer processes in DNA is of central importance for this. Both the biological activity and the physicochemical properties of DNA were the subject of the present work, whose individual aspects are briefly presented here.