DNA cleavage efficiency of the synthesized metal complexes were performed using pUC-19 DNA in the presence and absence of H2O2 ¬as an oxidant. When circular plasmid DNA is exposed to electrophoresis, the fast migration will be observed for the super coiled (SC) form-I.
If one strand is cleaved, the SC form will relax to produce a slow-moving open circular (OC) form-II or nicked form. If both strands are cleaved, a linear form III will be generated that migrates at a rate in between form-I and form-II. The nuclease activity was greatly increased by the incorporation of metal ion in the respective copolymer.
From the Fig 5, it is evident that the complexes can cleave DNA more efficiently in the presence of oxidant, which may be due to the formation of hydroxyl free radicals and the control DNA does not shown effective cleavage. All the complexes 1, 2, 3 and 4 exhibit efficient DNA cleavage activity which may be attributed to its higher DNA-binding affinity. The complex 1 has good cleavage activity than the complexes 2, 3 and 4.
