Molecular Modeling of a Benzophenanthridine Alkaloid Sanguinarine with Deoxyribonucleic Acid Sequences Evidence of Intercalation and Base Sepecificity

Abstract

The interactions of small natural alkaloids with nucleic acids have created considerab le interest in the field of a nti tumor ug des ign but s till critical information linking the physico--chemical properties associated with these complexes w ith the ir biological effecti veness remains unclea r. Significant progress has been made toward s implify ing the structural and dynamic properties of many natural ligand- D A complexes by molecular modeling approach which has provided pivotal ins ight into the d es ign and deve lopment of more effective second generation therapeutic agents for the successful treatments of many types of cancer due to le s sampling time and quick accurate results. We report for the fir t time the minimized structure of a nguina rine and studi ed its interaction with various synthetic DNA sequences by molecular docking. The results confim1 the intercalative na ture of alka loid and its preference for GC base pairs than AT.