Metal complexes as anticancer agents

Biological Activity of Triazolopyrimidine Copper(II) Complexes Modulated by an Auxiliary N-N-Chelating Heterocycle Ligands

Novel complexes of type [Cu(N-N)(dmtp)2(OH2)](ClO4)2·dmtp ((1) N-N: 2,2'-bipyridine; (2) L: 1,10-phenantroline and dmtp: 5,7-dimethyl-1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine) were designed in order to obtain biologically active compounds. Complexes were characterized as mononuclear species that crystallized in the space group P-1 of the triclinic system with a square pyramidal geometry around the copper (II). In addition to the antiproliferative effect on murine melanoma B16 cells, complex (1) exhibited low toxicity on normal BJ cells and did not affect membrane integrity. Complex (2) proved to be a more potent antimicrobial in comparison with (1), but both compounds were more active in comparison with dmtp-both against planktonic cells and biofilms. A stronger antimicrobial and antibiofilm effect was noticed against the Gram-positive strains, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Both electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae studies indicated that the complexes were scavengers rather than reactive oxygen species promoters. Their DNA intercalating capacity was evidenced by modifications in both absorption and fluorescence spectra. Furthermore, both complexes exhibited nuclease-like activity, which increased in the presence of hydrogen peroxide.

Copper(II)-N-hydroxy-N,N'-diarylformamidine complexes: Synthesis, crystal structures, antibacterial and molecular docking studies

A series of Cu(II) complexes were synthesized by using N-hydroxy-N,N'-diarylformamidine ligands: N-hydroxy-N,N'-(phenyl)formamidine (L1), N-hydroxy-N'-(4-methylphenyl)formamidine (L2), N-hydroxy-N,N'-(2,6-dimethylphenyl)formamidine (L3), N-hydroxy-N,N'-(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)formamidine (L4). Reaction of ligands L1-L4 with hydrated copper acetate furnished mononuclear Cu(II) complexes 1-4 with general formula [Cu-(L)₂]. The molecular structures of complexes 3 and 4, as determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction, showed both to have square planar geometry with a near C₂ symmetry. The antimicrobial potency of all four complexes was evaluated against three gram-(-) bacteria (S. typhimurium, P. aeruginosa, and E. coli) and two gram-(+) bacteria (Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and S. aureus), with ciprofloxacin as the reference drug. All tested complexes were inactive against gram-(+) bacteria strains except for complex 1, which displayed excellent activity when compared to the reference. Molecular docking studies showed that hydrogen bonding, pi-sigma and van der Waals interactions are prominent complex-protein connections, with complex 2 displaying good binding affinities with the studied biological targets.

Transition-metal norharmane compounds as possible cytotoxic agents: New insights based on a coordination chemistry perspective

New first-row transition-metal compounds with the ligand norharmane (9H-Pyrido[3,4-b]indole; Hnor) are reported. The compounds have the general formula [M(LL)(Hnor)(NO₃)₂](MeOH)_0-1 (M=Co, Ni, Cu, Zn; LL=2,2'-bipyridyl (bpy), 1,10-phenanthroline (phen)) and have been characterized by physical and analytical methods. X-ray structural analysis revealed that the compound of formula [Cu(phen)(Hnor)(NO₃)₂], (1) has a distorted 6-coordinated octahedrally-based geometry, with a planar-based [CuN₃O] core, where Cu-L varies between 1.99 and 2.04Å and two weak axial CuO contacts (2.209 and 2.644Å) from two different nitrates. Based on spectroscopic similarities, the other compounds appear to have the same or very similar coordination geometries. The compounds showed clear cell growth inhibitory effects in two different cancer cell lines in vitro, with the copper and zinc complexes being the most toxic and in fact almost comparable to cisplatin. Flow-cytometry analysis confirmed induction of apoptosis in cancer cells treated with the compounds. Interestingly, co-incubation of the cells with metal complexes and CuCl₂ induced an increase in the cytotoxic effects, most likely due to the conversion of the metal compounds in the corresponding, and most active, copper analogues.

Metal stopping reagents facilitate discontinuous activity assays of the de novo purine biosynthesis enzyme PurE

The conversion of 5-aminoimidazole ribonucleotide (AIR) to 4-carboxy-AIR (CAIR) represents an unusual divergence in purine biosynthesis: microbes and nonmetazoan eukaryotes use class I PurEs while animals use class II PurEs. Class I PurEs are therefore a potential antimicrobial target; however, no enzyme activity assay is suitable for high throughput screening (HTS). Here we report a simple chemical quench that fixes the PurE substrate/product ratio for 24h, as assessed by the Bratton-Marshall assay (BMA) for diazotizable amines. The ZnSO4 stopping reagent is proposed to chelate CAIR, enabling delayed analysis of this acid-labile product by BMA or other HTS methods.

Structural studies and anticancer activity of a novel (N6O4) macrocyclic ligand and its Cu(II) complexes

A novel (N6O4) macrocyclic ligand (L) and its Cu(II) complexes have been prepared and characterized by elemental analysis, spectral, thermal (TG/DTG), magnetic, and conductivity measurements. Quantum chemical calculations have also been carried out at B3LYP/6-31+G(d,p) to study the structure of the ligand and one of its complexes. The results show a novel macrocyclic ligand with potential amide oxygen atom, amide and amine nitrogen atoms available for coordination. Distorted square pyramidal ([Cu(L)Cl]Cl·2.5H2O (1), [Cu(L)NO3]NO(3)·3.5H2O (2), and [Cu(L)Br]Br·3H2O (4) and octahedral ([Cu(L)(OAc)2]·5H2O (3)) geometries were proposed. The EPR data of 1, 2, and 4 indicate d1x2(-y)2 ground state of Cu(II) ion with a considerable exchange interaction. The measured cytotoxicity for L and its complexes (1, 2) against three tumor cell lines showed that coordination improves the antitumor activity of the ligand; IC50 for breast cancer cells are ≈8.5, 3, and 4 μg/mL for L and complexes (1) and (2), respectively.

Metal Cu(II) and Zn(II) bipyridyls as inhibitors of lactate dehydrogenase

Metal complex-protein interaction is an evolving concept for determining cellular targets of metallodrugs. Lacatate dehydrogenase (LDH) is critically implicated in tumor growth and therefore, considered to be an important target protein for anti-tumor metal complexes. Due to efficient biocompatibility of copper (Cu(2+)) and zinc (Zn(2+)), we synthesized CubpyAc(2) . H(2)O (Cu-bpy) and ZnbpyAc(2) . H(2)O (Zn-bpy; where bpy = 2,2' bipyridine, Ac = CH(3)COO(-)) complexes and evaluated their interaction with and modulation of LDH in mouse tissues. The increasing concentration of both the complexes showed a significant shift in UV-Vis spectra of LDH. The binding constant data (Kc = 1 x 10(3) M(-1) for Cu-bpy and 7 x 10(6) M(-1) for Zn-bpy) suggested that Zn-bpy-LDH interaction is stronger than that of Cu-bpy-LDH. LDH modulating potential of the complexes were monitored by perfusing the mice tissues with non-toxic doses of Cu-bpy and Zn-bpy followed by activity measurement and analysis of LDH isozymes on non-denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). As compared to the control sets, Cu-bpy caused a significant decline (P < 0.05-0.001) in the activity of LDH in all the tissues studied. However, Zn-bpy showed inhibition of LDH only in liver (P < 0.01), kidney (P < 0.001) and heart (P < 0.01), but with no effect in spleen, brain and skeletal muscle tissues. PAGE analysis suggested that all the five LDH isozymes are equally sensitive to both the complexes in the respective tissues. The results suggest that Cu- and Zn-bpy are able to interact with and inhibit LDH, a tumor growth supportive target protein at tissue level.

Antimelanomal activity of the copper(II) complexes of 1-substituted 5-amino-imidazole ligands against B16F10 mouse melanoma cells

The copper complexes of 5-amino-imidazole ligands were prepared and characterized by various spectroscopic techniques. The ligand geometry around the copper(II) centre is square pyramidal based on N2O2 donor atoms and a coordinated water molecule at the apex. Single crystal X-ray structures were determined for both ligands. Ligands and copper complexes exhibited dose-dependent antiproliferative effects on the growth of B16F10 melanoma cells line but lower IC50 values were observed for the copper complexes.