Ruthenium(II) salicylate complexes inducing ROS-mediated apoptosis by targeting thioredoxin reductase.

Thioredoxin reductase (TrxR), a major component of the thioredoxin system, makes a critical role in regulating cellular redox signaling and is found to be overexpressed in many human cancer cells. TrxR has become an attractive target for anticancer agents. In this work, three Ru(II) complexes with salicylate as ligand, [Ru(phen)2(SA)] (phen = 1,10-phenanthroline, SA = salicylate, 1), [Ru(dmb)2(SA)] (dmb = 4,4'-dimethyl-2,2'-bipyridine, 2) and [Ru(bpy)2(SA)] (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine, 3), were synthesized and characterized. The anticancer effect exerted by them was evaluated. Complex 1 was found to exhibit obvious anticancer activity, in comparison with cisplatin, against cancer cell lines, while displaying low toxicity to the normal cell line BEAS-2B. The mechanism of complex 1 cancer cell growth suppress was investigated in A549 cells. Complex 1 exerted its anticancer through inducing apoptosis and triggering cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase. Complex 1 can selectively inhibit TrxR activity and thus promote the generation and accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which subsequently trigger mitochondrial dysfunction and DNA damage, activate oxidative stress-sensitive mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK), and suppress the protein kinase B (PKB or AKT) signal pathway, resulting in apoptosis in A549 cells.

The studies on the cytotoxicity in vitro, cellular uptake, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis-inducing properties of ruthenium methylimidazole complex [Ru(MeIm)4(p-cpip)](2.).

A new ruthenium methylimidazole complex [Ru(MeIm)4(p-cpip)](2+) (Ru1, p-cpip=2-(4-chlorophenyl)-1H-imidazo[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthroline, MeIm=1-methylimidazole) has been synthesized and characterized. The cellular uptake, in vitro cytotoxicities, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis-inducing mechanism of this Ru(II) complex have been extensively explored by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS), 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, flow cytometry, Comet assay, inverted fluorescence microscope as well as Western blotting experimental techniques. Notably, Ru1 displayed relatively high cytotoxic activity against lung cancer A549 cells and had high selectivity between tumor and normal cells in comparison with cisplatin. Further studies showed that Ru1 caused cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase and induced apoptosis via the mitochondrial pathway, which involved reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, mitochondrial dysfunction and Bcl-2 and caspase correlative family member activation. For providing more information about the possible antitumor mechanism, the in vitro DNA binding studies have been also investigated by different spectrophotometric methods, thermal denaturation and viscosity measurements.

Multifunctional selenium nanoparticles: Chiral selectivity of delivering MDR-siRNA for reversal of multidrug resistance and real-time biofluorescence imaging.

Herein, chiral selenium nanoparticles (L-SeNPs/D-SeNPs) modified with a dinuclear Ruthenium (II) complex were used to effectively deliver siRNA targeting the MDR1 gene. In this co-delivery system, the luminescent dinuclear Ruthenium (II) complex was developed to act as a gene carrier and anti-tumor drug, while offering luminescent imaging to follow the intracellular trafficking. Interestingly, Ru@L-SeNPs exhibited a stronger protein and pDNA affinity than Ru@D-SeNPs, indicating that chirality may have an effect on pDNA/siRNA binding and biocompatibility. Cisplatin-resistant A549R cells treated with Ru@L-SeNPs-siRNA demonstrated significant downregulation of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) expression, resulting in unprecedented enhanced cytotoxicity through the induction of apoptosis with the involvement of phosphorylation of p53, MAPK and PI3K/Akt signaling pathways. In vivo investigation confirmed that Ru@L-SeNPs-siRNA nanoparticles exhibited high tumor-targeted fluorescence, enhanced anti-tumor efficacy, and decreased systemic toxicity. These results suggest that Ru@L-SeNPs are promising vectors for the delivery of siRNA and for real-time tracking of treatment. FROM THE CLINICAL EDITOR: In this study, the authors designed bi-functional selenium nanoparticles with specific chirality to deliver siRNA, for targeting tumor MDR1 gene. The underlying ruthenium (II) complex could also offer fluorescence for real-time imaging. This new system has been shown to have enhanced efficacy against drug resistant tumor cells in both in-vitro and in-vivo experiments.

Ruthenium(II) complexes as apoptosis inducers by stabilizing c-myc G-quadruplex DNA.

Two ruthenium(II) complexes, [Ru(L)2(p-tFMPIP)](ClO4)2 (L = bpy, 1; phen, 2; p-tFMPIP = 2-(4-(trifluoromethyphenyl)-1H-imidazo[4,5f][1,10] phenanthroline)), were prepared by microwave-assisted synthesis technology. The inhibitory activity evaluated by MTT assay shown that 2 can inhibit the growth of MDA-MB-231 cells with inhibitory activity (IC50) of 16.3 µM, which was related to the induction of apoptosis. Besides, 2 exhibit low toxicity against normal HAcat cells. The inhibitory growth activity of both complexes related to the induction of apoptosis was also confirmed. Furthermore, the studies on the interaction of both complexes with c-myc G4 DNA shown that 1 and 2 can stabilize the conformation of c-myc G4 DNA in groove binding mode, which has been rational explained by using DFT theoretical calculation methods. In a word, this type of ruthenium(II) complexes can act as potential apoptosis inducers with low toxicity in clinic by stabilizing c-myc G4 DNA.

A theoretical study on the hydrolysis process of two Keppler-type antitumor complexes [TzH][trans-RuCl4(Tz)2] and [2-NH2TzH][trans-RuCl4(2-NH2Tz)2].

The hydrolysis processes of two Keppler-type antitumor ruthenium(III) complexes of [TzH][trans-RuCl4(Tz)2] (TzICR) and [2-NH2TzH][trans-RuCl4(2-NH2Tz)2] ((2-NH2)TzICR) have been investigated by using density functional theory (DFT) method, and the solvent effect was also considered and calculated by conductor-like polarizable calculation model (CPCM). The structural characteristics and the detailed energy profiles for the hydrolysis processes of title complexes have been obtained. The analysis of thermodynamic and kinetic characteristics of hydrolysis reaction suggests the following: For the 1st hydrolysis step, the complex TzICR has a lower hydrolysis rate than the reported drug [ImH][trans-RuCl4Im2](ICR, Im=imidazole). However, complex (2-NH2)TzICR has obviously a higher hydrolysis rate than TzICR and ICR. The result is in good agreement with the experimental one and the related regularity was further explained in theory. For the 2nd hydrolysis step, it is very significant to find that the formation of cis-diaqua products is thermodynamically preferred to that of trans isomers. Combining with the hydrolysis action mechanism of cisplatin, this is related to the so-called "cis effect", in which the cis-diaqua products are advantageous to binding to pertinent biomolecular targets. Therefore, the cis-diaqua products can be expected to be important precursors for the biological actions. These theoretical results would help to understand the action mechanism of these potential drugs with the pertinent biomolecular target.

Binding to DNA purine base and structure-activity relationship of a series of structurally related Ru(II) antitumor complexes: a theoretical study.

The thermodynamics of the binding of a series of structurally related Ru(II) antitumor complexes, that is, alpha-[Ru(azpy)2Cl2] 1, beta-[Ru(azpy)2Cl2] 2, alpha-[Ru(azpy)(bpy)Cl2] 3, and cis-[Ru(bpy)2Cl2] 4 to DNA purine bases (gunine, adenine at N7 site) has been studied by using the DFT method. The binding of imine form of 9-methyladenine (9-MeAde) to the Ru(II) moiety in a didentate fashion via its N6 and N7 atoms was also considered. The geometrical structures of the DNA model base adducts were obtained at the B3LYP/(LanL2DZ + 6-31G(d)) level in vacuo. The following exact single-point energy calculations were performed at the B3LYP/(LanL2DZ(f)+6-311+G(2d, 2p)) level both in vacuo and in aqueous solution using the COSMO model. The bond dissociation enthalpies and free energies, reaction enthalpies and free energies both in the gas phase and in aqueous solution for all considered Ru(II)-DNA model base adducts were obtained from the computations. The calculated bond dissociation enthalpies and free energies allow us to build a binding affinity order for the considered Ru(II)-DNA model base adducts. The theoretical results show that the guanine N7 is a preferred site for this series of complexes and support such an experimental fact that alpha-[Ru(azpy)(bpy)(9-EtGua)H2O](2+) (3-(9-EtGua)) is isomerized to alpha'-[Ru(azpy)(bpy)(9-EtGua)H2O](2+) (3'-(9-EtGua)). On the basis of structural and thermodynamical characteristics, the possible structure-activity relationship was obtained, and the distinct difference in cytotoxicities of this series of structurally related antitumor complexes was explained theoretically.

In vitro and in vivo investigations on the antiviral activity of a series of mixed-valence rare earth borotungstate heteropoly blues.

A series of mixed-valence rare earth borotungsto-heteropoly blues, K15H2[Ln(BW9W2O39)2].28H2O (Ln2, Ln=La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd), have been prepared and characterized by IR, UV, XPS, ESR and electrochemistry. The cytotoxicity and antiviral activity of these rare earth borotungstate heteropoly blues were investigated against influenza A(FluVA) strain (A/H1N1/Jingfang/1/91 and A/H3N2/Jingfang/30/95) and influenza virus B(FluVB) (B/Hufang/1/87) in MDCK cells. The results show that K15H2[Pr(BW9W2O39)2].28H2O (Pr2) exhibits the highest antiviral activity against FluVA with EC50 of less than 4.0 microg/ml (A/H1N1/Jingfang/1/91) and 6.0 microg/ml (A/H3N2/Jingfang/30/95), respectively, and has the lowest toxicity with CC50 of more than 480 microg/ml against MDCK cells. Additionally, both K15H2[Pr(BW9W2O39)2].28H2O (Pr2) and K15H2[Eu(BW9W2O39)2].28H2O (Eu2) showed excellent antiviral activities against FluVB by inhibiting FluVB replication at an EC50 of less than 8.0 microg/ml. Furthermore, investigation on in vivo antiviral activity of Pr2 against FluVA(FM1) in mice by giving the dosage either orally (p.o.) or intraperitoneally (i.p.), indicates that Pr2 exhibits higher inhibitory activity than that of positive control, virazole, and that it's more effective when administered by i.p.

Synthesis, characterization, DNA-binding and spectral properties of complexes [Ru(L)4(dppz)]2+ (L=Im and MeIm).

Two new Ru(II) complexes [Ru(L)(4)(dppz)](2+) (L=imidazole (Im), 1-methylimidazole (MeIm); dppz=dipyrido[3,2-a:2',3'-c]phenazine), have been synthesized and characterized in detail by elemental analysis, (1)H NMR, Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and UV-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopic techniques. The interaction of these complexes with calf thymus DNA (CT-DNA) has been explored by using electronic absorption titration, competitive binding experiment, circular dichroism (CD), thermal denaturation and viscosity measurements. The experimental results show that: both the two complexes can bind to DNA in an intercalation mode; the DNA-binding affinity of complex [Ru(Im)(4)(dppz)](2+)1 (K(b)=2.5 x 10(6)M(-1)) is greater than that of complex [Ru(MeIm)(4)(dppz)](2+)2 (K(b)=1.1 x 10(6)M(-1)). Moreover, it is very interesting to find that the circular dichroic spectrum of DNA-complex 1 adduct, in which both bands centered at 277 nm and 236 nm are all negative, is very different from those of DNA-complex 2 adduct and other Ru(II) complexes binding to DNA in general intercalation mode. It may be due to the hydrogen-bonding effect or the contribution of induced CD signals of complex 1. Another interesting finding is that the hypochromism of the complexes is not linear relation to their DNA-binding affinities. In order to deeply study these experimental phenomena and trends, the density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TDDFT) computations were carried out, and on the basis of the DFT/TDDFT results and the frontier molecular orbital theory, the trend in DNA-binding affinities, the spectral properties as well as the interesting phenomena of larger extent of hypochromism but relatively smaller K(b) values for the title complexes have been reasonably explained.

Synthesis, characterization and DNA-binding of novel chiral complexes delta- and lambda-[Ru(bpy)2L]2+ (L = o-mopip and p-mopip).

Novel chiral Ru(II) complexes [Ru(bpy)2L]2+ (bpy = 2,2-bipyridine; L: o-mopip = 2-(2-methoxylphenyl)imidazo[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthroline, p-mopip = 2-(4-methoxylphenyl)imidazo[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthroline) containing -OCH3 at different positions on the phenyl ring have been synthesized and characterized. The DNA-binding and DNA-photocleavage properties of the complexes were investigated. The theoretical calculations for these complexes were also carried out applying the density functional theory (DFT) method. The experimental results show that: both these two isomer complexes can bind to DNA in an intercalative mode; the DNA-binding affinity of [Ru(bpy)2(p-mopip)] 2 is greater than that of [Ru(bpy)2(o-mopip)] 1; moreover, the DNA-binding affinities of enantiomers delta-1 and delta-2 are all greater than those of lambda-1 and lambda-2, respectively. In addition, a very interesting finding is experimentally obtained, i.e. under a low [DNA]/[Ru] ratio, the emission intensities of delta-1 and lambda-1 are all weaker than those of delta-2 and lambda-2, however, upon a high [DNA]/[Ru] ratio, the emission intensities of both delta-1 and lambda-1 are stronger than those of delta-2 and lambda-2. Such a difference of the emission spectra can be interpreted by the electric effect of substituent on the intercalative ligand. The difference in DNA-binding affinities of these two isomeric complexes can also be reasonably explained by the DFT calculations.