Copper(II) N, N, O-Chelating Complexes as Potential Anticancer Agents

Inorg Chem. 2021 Mar 1;60(5):2939-2952. doi: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.0c02932. Epub 2021 Feb 17.

Abstract

Three novel dinuclear Cu(II) complexes based on a N,N,O-chelating salphen-like ligand scaffold and bearing varying aromatic substituents (-H, -Cl, and -Br) have been synthesized and characterized. The experimental and computational data obtained suggest that all three complexes exist in the dimeric form in the solid state and adopt the same conformation. The mass spectrometry and electron paramagnetic resonance results indicate that the dimeric structure coexists with the monomeric form in solution upon solvent (dimethyl sulfoxide and water) coordination. The three synthesized Cu(II) complexes exhibit high potentiality as ROS generators, with the Cu(II)/Cu(I) redox potential inside the biological redox window, and thus being able to biologically undergo Cu(II)/Cu(I) redox cycling. The formation of ROS is one of the most promising reported cell death mechanisms for metal complexes to offer an inherent selectivity to cancer cells. In vitro cytotoxic studies in two different cancer cell lines (HeLa and MCF7) and in a normal fibroblast cell line show promising selective cytotoxicity for cancer cells (IC50 about 25 μM in HeLa cells, which is in the range of cisplatin and improved with respect to carboplatin), hence placing this N,N,O-chelating salphen-like metallic core as a promising scaffold to be explored in the design of future tailor-made Cu(II) cytotoxic compounds.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antineoplastic Agents / chemical synthesis
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology*
  • Antineoplastic Agents / toxicity
  • Apoptosis / drug effects
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects
  • Chelating Agents / chemical synthesis
  • Chelating Agents / pharmacology
  • Chelating Agents / toxicity
  • Coordination Complexes / chemical synthesis
  • Coordination Complexes / pharmacology*
  • Coordination Complexes / toxicity
  • Copper / chemistry
  • DNA / drug effects
  • DNA Damage / drug effects
  • Density Functional Theory
  • Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor
  • Humans
  • Ligands
  • Mice
  • Models, Chemical
  • NIH 3T3 Cells
  • Reactive Oxygen Species / metabolism
  • Schiff Bases / chemical synthesis
  • Schiff Bases / pharmacology*
  • Schiff Bases / toxicity

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Chelating Agents
  • Coordination Complexes
  • Ligands
  • Reactive Oxygen Species
  • Schiff Bases
  • Copper
  • DNA