Issue 30, 2018

Copper complexes as prospective anticancer agents: in vitro and in vivo evaluation, selective targeting of cancer cells by DNA damage and S phase arrest

Abstract

A series of six new bis(thiosemicarbazone)copper(I) complexes of the type [Cu(L1–6)2Cl] (1–6) have been synthesized and characterized. The molecular structure of the ligand L4 was determined by the single crystal XRD method. All the complexes adopted trigonal planar (Y-shaped) geometry. All the complexes strongly bind with CT-DNA via intercalative mode, which was further supported by molecular docking studies. Further, the complexes were effectively bind with BSA as observed by UV-Vis and fluorescence spectra. All the complexes effectively cleave pBR322 DNA through hydrolytic pathway as evidenced from T4 ligase experiments. All the complexes interact with the anticancer receptor focal adhesion kinase (FAK) via electrostatic, van der Waals, hydrogen bonding, σ–π and π–π interactions. In vitro cytotoxicity of the complexes were assessed by MTT assay against four cancer cell lines such as human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7), cervical (HeLa), epithelioma (Hep-2) and Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC), and two normal cell lines namely normal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDF) and L6 myotubes with respect to the commercially used anticancer drug cisplatin. All the complexes induce apoptosis in EAC cells, which was confirmed by AO/EB, Hoechst 33258 and PI staining methods. The complexes block cell cycle progression of EAC cells in S phase (DNA synthesis). The cellular uptake studies confirmed the ability of the complexes to go into the cytoplasm and accumulation in the cell nuclei. In the in vivo anticancer studies, the complexes significantly reduce the tumour volume in female Swiss albino mice. Overall, our results ensure the role of thiosemicarbazone-based copper(I) complexes as prospective anticancer agents, induction of apoptosis and S phase arrest with the mitochondrial controlled pathway.

Graphical abstract: Copper complexes as prospective anticancer agents: in vitro and in vivo evaluation, selective targeting of cancer cells by DNA damage and S phase arrest

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
31 Jan 2018
Accepted
29 Apr 2018
First published
09 May 2018
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

RSC Adv., 2018,8, 16973-16990

Copper complexes as prospective anticancer agents: in vitro and in vivo evaluation, selective targeting of cancer cells by DNA damage and S phase arrest

D. Mahendiran, S. Amuthakala, N. S. P. Bhuvanesh, R. S. Kumar and A. K. Rahiman, RSC Adv., 2018, 8, 16973 DOI: 10.1039/C8RA00954F

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party commercial publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements