Quantitative interaction of twelve β-carboline derivatives with calf thymus deoxyribonucleic acid (ctDNA) using spectroscopic techniques was evaluated. The values of the binding constants (K b ) obtained for the complexes formed with the ctDNA ranged from 3.30 × 10 2 to 1.82 × 10 6 mol L −1 , being the β-carbolines with the N,N-dimethylaminophenyl group at position 1 the ones which presented the highest K b values. The binding mode between the β-carbolines evaluated and ctDNA was proposed from

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... he KI assay, competition with ethidium bromide, and DNA thermal denaturation profile (T m ), where it was possible to infer that the evaluated alkaloids interact with ctDNA preferably via intercalation. Additionally, the correlation of K b values obtained with the IC 50 of seven human cancer cell lines was carried out. From this study, it was possible to observe a linear relation among most of the evaluated derivatives, obtaining r 2 values from 0.5360 to 0.9600. In addition, in silico molecular docking was performed to corroborate the experimental results.