An in silico approach to map the binding site of doxorubicin on hemoglobin

Binding modalities of doxorubicin (DOX), a widely used antineoplastic anthracyline antibiotic with hemoglobin (Hb) have been studied. The protein and the ligand were prepared using CORINA and protonated with insight II. The best conformation was sought by employing GOLDV. Molecular modeling calculations showed that DOX binds Hb to a non-classical drug binding site. The alpha subunit of Hb has been assigned to posses the binding site for DOX with a binding affinity (Ka) = 16.98 ×10(3) mol(-1). The interaction was found to be thermodynamically favorable (ΔG° = −66.23 KJmol(-1)). The analysis of DOX binding site to Hb suggested that the types of interactions that contribute in this binding are hydrophobic contacts, hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions.