Binding and thermodynamic study of thalidomide with calf thymus DNA: Spectroscopic and computational approaches

The thalidomide-DNA interactions have been investigated in detail by numerous biophysical techniques such as UV-vis, dye displacement assay, viscosity, cyclic voltammetry, circular dichroism, molecular docking, molecular dynamic simulation, FT-IR and ¹H NMR spectroscopy. CD spectroscopy, thermal denaturation and viscosity measurement explained that thalidomide is groove binder. Molecular docking analysis highlighted that thalidomide binds trough minor groove of calf thymus DNA which also confirmed from dye displacement experiment. To our knowledge, this is the first instance thalidomide was shown to binds with calf thymus DNA. Molecular dynamic simulation indicated that the thalidomide-DNA system was stabilized by electrostatic attraction as the main interaction and mode of binding is minor groove. Our study provides a better understanding to the DNA-thalidomide binding affinity and it mechanism. Overall, all these in formations can be used for further understanding the pharmacological effects of thalidomide.