C60 fullerene binding to DNA

مقال فى مجلة

Fullerenes have attracted considerable attention in various areas of science and tech
nology. Owing to their exceptional physical, chemical, and biological properties,
they have many applications, particularly in cosmetic and medical products. Using
the Lennard-Jones 6-12 potential function and the continuum approximation, which
assumes that intermolecular interactions can be approximated by average atomic
surface densities, we determine the binding energies of a C60 fullerene with respect
to both single-strand and double-strand DNA molecules. We assume that all con
figurations are in a vacuum and that the C60 fullerene is initially at rest. Double
integrals are performed to determine the interaction energy of the system. We find
that the C60 fullerene binds to the double-strand DNA molecule, at either the major or minor grooves, with binding energies of −4.7 eV or −2.3 eV, respectively, and that the C60 molecule binds to the single-strand DNA molecule with a binding energy of −1.6 eV. Our results suggest that the C60 molecule is most likely to be linked to the major groove of the dsDNA molecule