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The isoquinoline quaternary alkaloid Berberine possesses a variety of pharmacological properties that suggests its promising application for an anticancer delivery system design utilizing its ability to intercalate DNA. In the current work we have investigated the effects of Berberine on the human T-cell leukemia cell line in vitro. Fluorescent microscopy of leukemic cells revealed Berberine nuclear localization. The results showed that Berberine inhibited leukemic cell growth in a time-and dose-dependent manner, that was associated with reactive oxygen species production intensification and caspase 3/7 activity increase with followed apoptosis induction. Berberine was used as a toxic and phototoxic agent for triple system synthesis along with DNA as a carrier and nanosilver as a plasmonic accelerator of Berberine electronic transitions and high energy emission absorbent centers. The proposed method allows to obtain the complex of DNA with Berberine molecules and silver nanopoarticles. The optical properties of free components as well as their various combinations, including the final triple system DNA-Nanosilver-Berberine, were investigated. Obtained results support the possibility to use the triple system DNA-Nanosilver-Berberine as an alternative therapeutic agent for cancer treatment.

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The optical absorption, fluorescence, phosphorescence in UV and visible spectral range, and effect of light irradiation on spectral properties of DNA with the presence of nickel ions are studied. The quantity of nickel ions varies from 1 ion per 500 base pairs of DNA to 2 ions per base pair. Three important features fixed: the shape of fluorescence and phosphorescence spectra of the DNA do not change in presence of Ni, but their intensity depends on the number of nickel ions in solution; phosphorescence intensity decreases more rapidly than fluorescence; the small decrease of DNA photodegradation rate in presence of Ni is observed. The average of triplet exciton path length evaluated from the dependence of phosphorescence/fluorescence intensity ratio on the relative concentration of nickel ions is 30–20 DNA pair sequence length. It was proposed that nickel ions interact in the outer side of DNA with the phosphate groups and do not penetrate intra macromolecular space.