Proflavine, also called proflavin and diaminoacridine, is an acriflavine derivative, a

disinfectant A disinfectant is a chemical substance or compound used to inactivate or destroy microorganisms on inert surfaces. Disinfection does not necessarily kill all microorganisms, especially resistant bacterial spores; it is less effective than ...

bacteriostatic against many

gram-positive In bacteriology, gram-positive bacteria are bacteria that give a positive result in the Gram stain test, which is traditionally used to quickly classify bacteria into two broad categories according to their type of cell wall. The Gram stain is ...

bacteria Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...

. It has been used in the form of the dihydrochloride and hemisulfate salts as a topical

antiseptic An antiseptic ( and ) is an antimicrobial substance or compound that is applied to living tissue to reduce the possibility of sepsis, infection, or putrefaction. Antiseptics are generally distinguished from ''antibiotics'' by the latter's abil ...

, and was formerly used as a urinary antiseptic. Proflavine is also known to have a mutagenic effect on

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

by intercalating between

nucleic acid Nucleic acids are large biomolecules that are crucial in all cells and viruses. They are composed of nucleotides, which are the monomer components: a pentose, 5-carbon sugar, a phosphate group and a nitrogenous base. The two main classes of nuclei ...

base pair A base pair (bp) is a fundamental unit of double-stranded nucleic acids consisting of two nucleobases bound to each other by hydrogen bonds. They form the building blocks of the DNA double helix and contribute to the folded structure of both DNA ...

s. It differs from most other mutagenic components by causing basepair-deletions or basepair-insertions and not substitutions. In the presence of light, proflavine can induce double-stranded breaks in

. Proflavine is a fluorescent dye that is sometimes used in microscopic in-vivo imaging due to its intercalation properties. However, there was concern that women exposed to proflavin could develop cervical cancer since they have mutagenesis potential. However, the retrospective analysis performed by Pantano et. al. demonstrated that there is no increased cervical cancer risk after exposure to proflavine. In

astronomical spectroscopy Astronomical spectroscopy is the study of astronomy using the techniques of spectroscopy to measure the electromagnetic spectrum, spectrum of electromagnetic radiation, including Visible light astronomy, visible light, Ultraviolet astronomy, ultr ...

proflavine present in interstellar clouds (derived from the modification in

meteorite A meteorite is a rock (geology), rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical ...

s of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by heteroatoms) strongly absorbs in the blue region at 445 nm. This makes difficult the recording of the spectra of stars that lie behind the clouds.

References

Antiseptics Acridines DNA intercalaters {{Molecular-cell-biology-stub