Romanian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences

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EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES EMPLOYED IN THE STUDY OF METAL COMPLEXES-DNA – INTERACTIONS

TAMARA TOPALĂ1*, ANDREEA BODOKI1, LUMINIŢA OPREAN1, RADU OPREAN2

1.Department of General and Inorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, “Iuliu Hațieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj-Napoca, Romania
2.Department of Analytical Chemistry and Instrumental Analysis, Faculty of Pharmacy, “Iuliu Hațieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj-Napoca, Romania

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The present paper is an overlook on metal complexes-DNA interactions, their classification and the experimental techniques employed to study them. The deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), as the vector for genetic information in living organisms, is one of the main targets for pharmacologically active molecules, especially for anticancer agents. Understanding how drugs interact with DNA is of outmost importance as researchers struggle to design more efficient and specifically targeted therapeutics, with fewer side effects. As in the recent years bioinorganic chemistry has provided numerous examples of compounds with high affinity towards DNA, the present review focuses on transition metal complexes.