Voltammetric studies on the interaction of ds-DNA with anti-cancer agents imatinib and erlotinib – Comparison of Au and Pt nanoparticle effects to drug-DNA complex formation

Abstract

The interactions of imatinib (IMA) and erlotinib (ERL) with calf-thymus double-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (ds-DNA) were studied by using monometallic (Au and Pt) and bimetallic (Au + Pt) nanoparticles modified DNA biosensors. The prepared electrochemical biosensors were designed to show the interaction between IMA (or ERL) and ds-DNA. The characterization of the prepared sensors was carried out by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The influence of Au, Pt, and Au + Pt nanoparticles in the modified biosensor was investigated to elucidate the interaction between the anti-cancer drugs and ds-DNA. The interaction was realized based on the electrochemical oxidation signal (at about +0.80 V) of the guanine (dGu) base of ds-DNA by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) in pH 4.8 acetate buffer. The effect of the nanoparticle’s concentration and interaction time of IMA (and ERL) with ds-DNA on the electrochemical response of dGu were optimized. The results showed that Au + Pt nanoparticles, especially for IMA, significantly affected the binding constant value of the drugs to ds-DNA. Interaction studies have also shown that the binding mode for IMA and ERL could be intercalation and groove binding and the binding constant values were found to be 68.3 × 106 M−1 and 27.3 × 107 M−1, respectively.