In vitro DNA binding studies of the sweetening agent saccharin and its copper(II) and zinc(II) complexes

•Comparative DNA binding studies of saccharin and its complexes.•All compounds bind to DNA.•Na(sac) and Zn-sac act as groove binders.•Cu-sac is a moderate intercalator.•Cu-sac and Zn-sac show weak ability to damage to supercoiled DNA.

The interactions of fish sperm DNA (FS-DNA) with the sodium salt of sweetener saccharin (sacH) and its copper and zinc complexes, namely [M(sac)2(H2O)4]·2H2O (M = CuII or ZnII) were studied by using UV–Vis titration, fluorometric competition, thermal denaturation, viscosity and gel electrophoresis measurements. The intrinsic binding constants (Kb) obtained from absorption titrations were estimated to be 2.86 (±0.06) × 104 M−1 for Na(sac), 6.67 (±0.12) × 104 M−1 for Cu-sac and 4.01 (±0.08) × 104 M−1 for Zn-sac. The Cu-sac complex binds to FS-DNA via intercalation with a KA value of 50.12 (±0.22) × 104 M−1 as evidenced by competitive binding studies with ethidium bromide. Moreover, competition experiments with Hoechst 33258 are indicative of a groove binding mode of Na(sac) and Zn-sac with binding constants of 3.13 (±0.16) × 104 M−1 and 5.25 (±0.22) × 104 M−1, respectively. The spectroscopic measurements indicate a moderate DNA binding affinity of Na(sac) and its metal complexes. The suggested binding modes are further confirmed by the thermal denaturation and viscosity measurements. In addition, Cu-sac and Zn-sac show weak ability to damage to pBR322 supercoiled plasmid DNA.

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