Tentacle porphyrins: DNA interactions

Cationic porphyrins exhibit diverse binding modes with nucleic acids. Initial interest in porphyrin-DNA interactions arose in conjunction with photodynamic therapy, but more recent interest in porphyrin-nucleic acid interactions stems from porphyrin antiviral (including HIV-1) and anticancer activity and from their utility as nucleic acid structural probes; e.g., metallo derivatives selectively cleave nucleic acids. Thus, a greater understanding of the fundamental factors that influence porphyrin-nucleic acid binding not only has value in elucidating the relationship of structure to nucleic acid binding but may also be useful in developing therapeutic agents and biological probes.