The interaction of sesamol with DNA and cytotoxicity, apoptosis, and localization in HepG2 cells

Sesamol, a nutritional antioxidant phenolic compound present in sesame seed, has a potential therapeutic molecule effect against cancers. In this study, the interaction between sesamol and DNA was investigated by employing ultraviolet/visible (UV/Vis), fluorescence, circular dichroism (CD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and molecular modeling. The fluorescence analysis indicated that the fluorescence quenching mechanism of sesamol by calf thymus DNA (ctDNA) occurred through static quenching. The UV/Vis, CD, FT-IR spectra and molecular docking results implied that the primary binding mode was minor groove binding. Furthermore, the intracellular interaction of sesamol with DNA and its bioactivity effect were explored. The cell activity results demonstrated that sesamol induced hepatic cell line (HepG2) death. The acridine orange (AO)/ethidium bromide (EB) staining assay and DNA fragmentation confirmed that sesamol could efficiently induce the apoptosis of HepG2 cells. Moreover, addition of sesamol to HepG2 cells resulted in nuclear localization, as visualized by confocal microscopy.