Profound Nanoscale Structural and Biomechanical Changes in DNA Helix upon Treatment with Anthracycline Drugs.

ABSTRACT: In our study, we describe the outcomes of the intercalation of different anthracycline antibiotics in double-stranded DNA at the nanoscale and single molecule level. Atomic force microscopy analysis revealed that intercalation results in significant elongation and thinning of dsDNA molecules. Additionally, using optical tweezers, we have shown that intercalation decreases the stiffness of DNA molecules, that results in greater susceptibility of dsDNA to break. Using DNA molecules with different GC/AT ratios, we checked whether anthracycline antibiotics show preference for GC-rich or AT-rich DNA fragments. We found that elongation, decrease in height and decrease in stiffness of dsDNA molecules was highest in GC-rich dsDNA, suggesting the preference of anthracycline antibiotics for GC pairs

SUBMITTER: Kaczorowska A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7312087 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature