Interaction of bleomycin and ist oligonucleotide derivatives with nucleic acids

Various aspects of interaction of the antitumour glycopeptide antibiotic bleomycin with nucleic acids are considered. Data on equilibrium binding parameters obtained by various physicochemical methods have been collected and compared. The contribution of N- and C-terminal domains of the glycopeptide molecule to the binding with DNA and sequence specificity of DNA cleavage are discussed. Data on a recently created new class of compounds – bleomycin – oligonucleotide conjugates – are presented. These compounds, like antibiotics, possess DNA-cleaving activity (also in a catalytic manner) together with high selectivity towards a selected nucleotide sequence. The bibliography includes 267 references.