The aim of this study was synthesis of two new water-soluble fluorescent palladium and platinum complexes with formulas of [Pt(DACH)(FIP)](NO3)2 and [Pd(DACH)(FIP)](NO3)2, respectively, where FIP is 2-(furan-2-yl)-1H-imidazo[4,5-f][1,10] phenanthroline and DACH is 1R,2R-diaminocyclohexane. Fluorescence spectroscopy, circular dichroism (CD), thermal denaturation measurement, ionic strength, and kinetic study displayed groove binding of Pt complex on DNA, while due to binding of Pd complex, B form of DNA convert to Z form. Due to electrostatic interaction of Pd complex with DNA, the DNA form is converted and it provides enough space for Pd complex to insert between base stacking of DNA. UV-vis study shows two complexes could denature the DNA at low concentrations in exothermic process and Pt complex is more active than Pd complex. Finally, the anticancer and growth inhibitory activities of synthesized complexes were investigated against human colon cancer cell line HCT116 after incubation time of 24 h using MTT assay and higher activity was observed for the platinum complex. Interaction of the two metal derivative complexes was studied by molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation. The results showed that Pt complexes have higher negative docking energy and higher tendency for interaction with DNA, and exert more structural change on DNA.
Keywords: (R,R-DACH): (1R,2R)-(−)-1,2-Diaminocyclohexane; CD: circular dichroism; CT-DNA: calf tymus DNA; DNA binding; EB: ethidium bromide; FIP: 2-(furan-2-yl)-1H-imidazo[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthroline; Fluorescent complex; Imidazole derivative; Molecular dynamics and docking; Platinum and palladium complexes.