Cisplatin induced alterations in oriented fibers of DNA studied by atomic force microscopy

Oriented fibers of DNA, prepared by the wet spin method, were imaged by atomic force microscopy. It was found that an oriented fiber's substructure is an array of assemblages of DNA. For native DNA, the assemblages exhibit a characteristic width of 76 nm, a thickness of 20 nm, and appear to carry a right handed twist. Treatment with the anticancer drug cisplatin prior to wet spinning induces geometric irregularities, in the form of kinks and width distortions, into the assemblages of DNA.