FTIR and circular dichroism spectroscopic study of interaction of 5-fluorouracil with DNA

5-Fluorouracil (5FU) is an anticancer chemotherapeutic drug which exerts cytotoxic effect by inhibiting cellular DNA replication. In the present study, we explore the binding of 5FU with DNA and resulting structural and conformational changes on DNA duplex. UV–visible, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopic techniques were employed to explore these interactions. A constant concentration of calf thymus DNA was incubated with varying concentrations of 5FU. UV–visible and FTIR spectroscopic results revealed that intercalation is the primary mode of interaction between 5FU and nitrogenous bases of the nucleic acid. The binding constant was found to be 9.7 × 104; which is indicative of moderate type of interaction between 5FU and DNA duplex. It was also observed that 5FU intercalates slightly more between AT base pairs compared to GC pairs. FTIR and circular dichroism spectroscopic results revealed that 5FU disturbs native B-conformation of DNA though, DNA remains in its B conformation even at higher concentrations of 5FU.

► Interaction was found to be the primary mode of binding of 5-fluorouracil with DNA.
► The binding constant shows that it is a moderate binder.
► 5-fluorouracil preferably intercalates between AT base pairs.
► 5-fluorouracil perturbs the native B conformation of DNA.