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Comparative biological evaluation and G-quadruplex interaction studies of two new families of organometallic gold(I) complexes featuring N-heterocyclic carbene and alkynyl ligands

Meier-Menches, Samuel M., Aikman, Brech, Döllerer, Daniel, Klooster, Wim T., Coles, Simon J., Santi, Nicolò

, Luk, Louis

, Casini, Angela

and Bonsignore, Riccardo

2020. Comparative biological evaluation and G-quadruplex interaction studies of two new families of organometallic gold(I) complexes featuring N-heterocyclic carbene and alkynyl ligands. Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry 202 , 110844. 10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2019.110844

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2019.110844

Abstract

Experimental organometallic gold(I) compounds hold promise for anticancer therapy. This study reports the synthesis of two novel families of gold(I) complexes, including N1-substituted bis-N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes of general formula [Au(N1-TBM)2]BF4 (N1-TBM = N1-substituted 9-methyltheobromin-8-ylidene) and mixed gold(I) NHC-alkynyl complexes, [Au(N1-TBM)alkynyl]. The compounds were fully characterised for their structure and stability in aqueous environment and in the presence of N-acetyl cysteine by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The structures of bis(1-ethyl-3,7,9-trimethylxanthin-8-ylidene)gold(I), (4-ethynylpyridine)(1,9-dimethyltheobromine-8-ylidene)gold(I) and of (2,8-Diethyl-10-(4-ethynylphenyl)-5,5-difluoro-1,3,7,9-tetramethyl-5H-4λ4,5λ4-dipyrrolo[1,2-c:2′,1′-f][1,3,2]diazaborinine)(1,3,7,9-tetramethylxanthin-8-ylidene)gold(I) were also confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis. The compounds were studied for their properties as DNA G-quadruplex (G4 s) stabilizers by fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) DNA melting. Only the cationic [Au(N1-TBM)2]BF4 family showed moderate G4 stabilization properties with respect to the previously reported benchmark compound [Au(9-methylcaffein-8-ylidene)2]+ (AuTMX2). However, the compounds also showed marked selectivity for binding to G4 structures with respect to duplex DNA in competition experiments. For selected complexes, the interactions with G4 s were also confirmed by circular dichroism (CD) studies. Furthermore, the gold(I) complexes were assessed for their antiproliferative effects in human cancer cells in vitro, displaying moderate activity. Of note, among the mixed gold(I) NHC-alkynyl compounds, one features a fluorescent boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY) moiety which allowed determining its uptake into the cytoplasm of cancer cells by fluorescence microscopy

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Chemistry
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0162-0134
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	1 October 2019
Date of Acceptance:	8 September 2019
Last Modified:	06 Nov 2024 01:00
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/125827