C 60 fullerene binding to DNA

Fullerenes have attracted considerable attention in various areas of science and technology. 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 C 60 fullerene with respect to both single-strand and double-strand DNA molecules. We assume that all configurations are in a vacuum and that the C 60 fullerene is initially at rest. Double integrals are performed to determine the interaction energy of the system. We find that the C 60 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 C 60 molecule binds to the single-strand DNA molecule with a binding energy of −1.6 eV. Our results suggest that the C 60 molecule is most likely to be linked to the major groove of the dsDNA molecule. Copyright EDP Sciences, SIF, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014