Determination of the cationic amphiphilic drug-DNA binding mode and DNA-assisted fluorescence resonance energy transfer amplification.

Abstract Understanding the mechanism of drug–DNA binding is crucial for predicting the potential genotoxicity of drugs. Agarose gel electrophoresis, absorption, steady state fluorescence, and circular dichroism have been used in exploring the interaction of cationic amphiphilic drugs (CADs) such as amitriptyline hydrochloride (AMT), imipramine hydrochloride (IMP), and promethazine hydrochloride (PMT) with calf thymus or pUC19 DNA. Agarose gel electrophoresis assay, along with absorption and steady state fluorescence studies, reveal interaction between the CADs and DNA. A comparative study of the drugs with respect to the effect of urea, iodide induced quenching, and ethidium bromide (EB) exclusion assay reflects binding of CADs to the DNA primarily in an intercalative fashion. Circular dichroism data also support the intercalative mode of binding. Besides quenching, there is fluorescence exchange energy transfer (FRET) in between CADs and EB using DNA as a template.