AN INVESTIGATION ON THE DNA BINDING ACTIVITIES OF MELAMINE, CYANURIC ACID AND URIC ACID

Abstract

Melamine can be added to various foods such as milk, milk powder, baby food, pet, and livestock feed for cheating purposes due to its high nitrogen content. Regarding its usage in food products, there is a need to investigate its possible interactions with DNA. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the interactions of melamine and its metabolized products, cyanuric acid and uric acid with genomic DNA, isolated from eukaryotic (calf thymus) and prokaryotic (Staphylococcus aureus) sources. UV-absorbance spectrophotometry, fluorescence spectrophotometry, and agarose gel electrophoresis techniques were used to evaluate these interactions. The five different concentrations of melamine, cyanuric acid, and uric acid were incubated with fixed DNA concentration and it was determined that the test compounds interacted with the DNA molecules. The data obtained by UV-absorbance and fluorescence spectrophotometry techniques revealed an increase in wave peaks observed with the increasing substance concentration. After the obtained data of the aforementioned techniques were evaluated together, it was concluded that melamine, cyanuric acid, and uric acid bonded to the eukaryotic and prokaryotic genomic DNA materials via groove binding.