Interaction of 1,4-Dihydroxy-9,10-Anthraquinone with Calf Thymus DNA: A Comparison with Anthracycline Anticancer Drugs

The anthracycline drugs adriamycin and daunorubicin, efficient in the treatment of various human cancers, form strong intercalation complexes with DNA. The therapeutic efficacy and toxicity of such anticancer drugs are governed by biochemical reactions of the core dihydroxy-9,10-anthraquinone unit. The high cost and toxic side effects of anthracycline drugs limit their use in cancer therapy. For a few decades, efforts have been made to find cheap, less toxic yet efficient analogues of anthracyclines. This work on 1,4-dihydroxy-9,10-anthraquinone (QH(2)), a simple analogue of the anthracyclines, was carried out to compare its biochemical properties with anthracyclines. UV-Vis and fluorescence spectroscopic methods were used to analyze interaction of the compound with calf thymus DNA. The data were used to evaluate the binding constant and site size.