Determination of acetamiprid partial-intercalative binding to DNA by use of spectroscopic, chemometrics, and molecular docking techniques

Acetamiprid (ACT) is an insecticide widely used for controlling a variety of insect pests. The binding mode associated with calf thymus DNA (ctDNA) upon interaction with ACT was determined using spectroscopic, chemometrics, and molecular docking techniques to clarify the interaction mechanism at the molecular level. Fluorescence titration suggested that the fluorescence quenching of ACT by ctDNA is a static procedure. The binding constants between ACT and ctDNA at different temperatures were calculated to be of the order 10³?10⁴ L mol^?1. The positive values of enthalpy and entropy change suggested that the binding process is primarily driven by hydrophobic interactions. Multivariate curve resolution?alternating least squares (MCR?ALS), a chemometrics approach, was used to resolve the expanded UV–visible spectral data matrix. The concentration profiles and the spectra for the three reaction components (ACT, ctDNA, and ACT?ctDNA complex) of the system, which formed a highly overlapping composite response, were then successfully obtained and used to evaluate the progress of ACT interacting with ctDNA. The results of the single-stranded ctDNA and iodide quenching experiments, ctDNA-melting investigations, and viscosity measurements indicated that ACT binds to ctDNA by means of a partial intercalation. Molecular docking studies showed that the specific binding site is mainly located between the ACT and G–C base pairs of ctDNA. This docking prediction was confirmed by use of Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectral analysis. Results from circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy revealed that ACT induced a conformational change from the B–ctDNA form to the A–ctDNA form.