Abstract
Remdesivir is a drug that is known for its consideration as a potential treatment for COVID-19. It is understood that remdesivir binds to RNA dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) to stop viral replication. The purpose of this project was to determine if remdesivir would bind to DNA using optical tweezers. In our experiments, a single DNA molecule was trapped with optical tweezers and the force response of the DNA molecule was measured as it was stretched in the absence and presence of various concentrations of remdesivir. We observed that the force required to melt the DNA decreases in the presence of micro-molar concentrations of remdesivir; this effect is amplified with increasing remdesivir concentration. This suggests that remdesivir, at micro-molar concentrations, can destabilize the double stranded structure of DNA. Preliminary results suggest that remdesivir has slower binding kinetics (in the order of milliseconds) compared to classical intercalators (in the order of microseconds). Our studies show that given the time remdesivir can bind to DNA, this may provide insight to the potential side effects of the drug.
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