Denaturing effect of acridine orange and adriamycin.

Acridine orange and adriamycin have a very low denaturing effect on DNA isolated from Chinese hamster cells but strongly increase heat-induced denaturation. When these intercalating agents are added to the growth media they modify the sensitivity to heat denaturation of DNA extracted from treated cultures when compared with untreated cultures. This effect correlates with a considerable increase in the disruption of chromosomal ultrastructure.