The binding of spermine (SPM), N¹,N12-bismethylspermine (BMS) and N¹,N12-bisethylspermine (BES) to tRNA Phe was studied using ¹H-NMR at 750 MHz. The polyamines were enriched in 13C at the 5-CH2 and 8-CH2 residues and the nuclear Overhauser enhancement (NOE) cross peaks connecting the ¹H-NMR resonances of the13C-methylenes and several base paired imino protons of tRNA Phe were obtained using 1D13C-half filteredspectra. It was found that while SPM and BMS bind to the N(3)-H of base pairs T54-m¹A58, U50-A64 and U52-A62, BES binds only to T54-m¹A58 and U50-A64. This regioselectivity in the binding of the three polyamines to tRNA was correlated with their biological effects on cell growth. Using human melanoma cancer cells (MALME-3M), we found that SPM and BMS were without effect and cytostatic, respectively, while BES was distinctly cytotoxic. The latter also affected cell cycling and, at variance with SPM and BMS, lead to a distinctG1/S cell cycle arrest.
¹H-NMR of polyamines; tRNA Phe; melanoma; spermine
