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Nucleic Acids Research, 1977, Vol. 4, No. 8 2697-2712
© 1977

Articles

The interaction of plant alkaloids with DNA. II. Berberinium chloride

Michael W. Davidson, Irene Lopp, Scott Alexander and W. David Wilson*

Department of Chemistry, Georgia State University, University Plaza Atlanta, GA 30303, USA

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed

Received May 3, 1977. The interaction of berberinium chloride with DNA has been investigated using spectrophotometry, viscometric titrations with sonicated and closed circular superhelical DNA, and flow polarized fluorescence. The binding results for berberinium were found to fit the neighbor exclusion model. The two viscometric titrations and flow polarized fluorescence results also indicated that berberinium binds to DNA by intercalation. Titration of sonicated DNA with berberinium produced viscosity increases which were less than those obtained with quinacrine and the titration of superhelical DNA indicated a significantly smaller unwinding angle for intercalation of berberinium than for quinacrine. These results can be interpreted in terms of a model in which (i) berberinium is partially intercalated into the double helix, or (ii) the alkaloid is more completely intercalated into the double helix, but causes bending of the helix due to the slight nonplanarity of the berberinium ring system, or (iii) a combination of (i) and (ii).


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