Samaneh Rashtbari, - Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
Reza Yekta, - Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
Gholamreza Dehghan - Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

Study the interaction of various drugs with DNA is the mainapproach to new drug design. In this work, the interaction of thioridazine (TR), an antipsychotic medication, which is widely used to treat psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia was investigated with calf thymus DNA (ct-DNA) using spectroscopic methods including UV-visible absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy along with molecular docking studies and viscosity measurements. The binding constant (Kb) value was calculated to be 5.3 ×103 M-1, that is comparable to the Kb calculated for groove binders. Competitive binding study with methylene blue (MB) showed that TR cannot be substituted for the MB probe (an intercalator agent), confirming the groove binding of TR. Viscometric studies show a slight change in the viscosity of the ct-DNA, which suggests TR binds to DNA through a groove-binding mode. Molecular docking studies confirmed that TR can form complex with DNA and this drug interact with DNA through groove binding mode. These outputs are in good agreement with experimental results and all the results indicated that TR is fitted into the minor groove of ct-DNA.

Thioridazine, Calf thymus DNA, Groove binding, Molecular docking