Abstract
Bleomycin decreases the melting temperature (Tm) of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) determined by the optical density and viscosity methods and breaks the DNA strand in the presence of 1, 2-benzenediol (catechol). The effect of bleomycin in the presence of catechol is markedly in acidic solution. However, in contrast with the case of sulfhydryl compounds such as 2-hydroxy-1-ethanethiol (2-mercaptoethanol), catechol inhibits the interaction of ultraviolet (UV) -irradiated bleomycin with DNA. These results show that catechol has two functions, i.e., increasing the activity of non-irradiated bleomycin and inhibiting that of UV-irradiated bleomycin. Moreover, it was demonstrated that irradiation is not effective for enhancing the antibacterial activity of bleomycin.
