Investigation of acidic denaturation of ethidium bromide complexes with DNA Biology

Abstract

In the present work the temperature-induced and the acidic denaturation of ethidium bromide (EtBr) complexes with DNA have been carried out. The curves of helix-coil transition of both DNA and its complexes with EtBr in 0 ≤ r ≤ 0.5 (r = [ligand] / [DNA]) were obtained. It has been shown that with enhancement of EtBr concentration the transition point is shifted to the “high values” for both factors invoking this transition. It was also revealed that EtBr interacts with DNA by several modes being in non protonated and protonated states, moreover ligand binding mechanisms to DNA are analogous.