Interactions of Novel Sets of Perylene Dianhydrides and a Diimide with G-Quadruplex Structures in Human DNA

Scientists from different fields have been coming together and trying to work on cancer therapies for many years. Recently, the interaction of perylene derivatives with G-quadruplex structures in human DNA has been studied for this purpose. Perylene derivatives have the ability to bind to the unusual DNA secondary structures called G-quadruplexes that form on specific regions of the human genome. In this thesis, two perylene tetracarboxylic dianhydrides (PDA) and a perylene diimide (PDI) were observed with regard to their interactions with G-quadruplex DNA. A PCR (polymerase chain reaction) amplified region from the human beta globin gene was used to prove the formation of G-quadruplex structures in the presence of repetitive guanine bases, and c-kit and a-coreTT were used as the guanine rich oligonucleotides. The complexations were analyzed using absorption and emission spectroscopy and gel electrophoresis techniques. Absorption and emission investigations have illustrated a variation in the peaks of the primers and compounds when the complexation was performed. Electrophoresis results have shown that bands with the PCR product alone migrate faster than the bands with the PCR product and the perylene derivative together. Overall, the investigated perylene derivatives have a potential binding affinity towards G-quadruplex structures throughout the human genome. Keywords: Perylene derivatives, G-quadruplex, cancer therapy, beta globin gene, telomeric region, promoter region.