Spectroscopic investigation into the interaction of a diazacyclam-based macrocyclic copper(ii) complex with bovine serum albumin.

Cyclam-based ligands and their complexes are known to show antitumor activity. This study was undertaken to examine the interaction of a diazacyclam-based macrocyclic copper(II) complex with bovine serum albumin (BSA) under physiological conditions. The interactions of different metal-based drugs with blood proteins, especially those with serum albumin, may affect the concentration and deactivation of metal drugs, and thereby influence their availability and toxicity during chemotherapy. In this vein, several spectral methods including UV-vis absorption, fluorescence and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy techniques were used. Spectroscopic analysis of the fluorescence quenching confirmed that the Cu(II) complex quenched BSA fluorescence intensity by a dynamic mechanism. In order to further determine the quenching mechanism, an analysis of Stern-Volmer plots at various concentrations of BSA was carried out. It was found that the KSV value increased with the BSA concentration. It was suggested that the fluorescence quenching process was a dynamic quenching rather than a static quenching mechanism. Based on Förster's theory, the average binding distance between the Cu(II) complex and BSA (r) was found to be 4.98 nm; as the binding distance was less than 8 nm, energy transfer from BSA to the Cu(II) complex had a high possibility of occurrence. Thermodynamic parameters (positive ΔH and ΔS values) and measurement of competitive fluorescence with 1-anilinonaphthalene-8-sulphonic acid (1,8-ANS) indicated that hydrophobic interaction plays a major role in the Cu(II) complex interaction with BSA. A Job's plot of the results confirmed that there was one binding site in BSA for the Cu(II) complex (1:1 stoichiometry). The site marker competitive experiment confirmed that the Cu(II) complex was located in site I (subdomain IIA) of BSA. Finally, CD data indicated that interaction of the Cu(II) complex with BSA caused a small increase in the α-helical content. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

DNA binding affinity of a macrocyclic copper(II) complex: Spectroscopic and molecular docking studies.

The interaction of a novel macrocyclic copper(II) complex, ([CuL(ClO4)2] that L is 1,3,6,10,12,15-hexaazatricyclo[13.3.1.16,10]eicosane) with calf thymus DNA (ct-DNA) was investigated by various physicochemical techniques and molecular docking at simulated physiological conditions (pH = 7.4). The absorption spectra of the Cu(II) complex with ct-DNA showed a marked hyperchroism with 10 nm blue shift. The intrinsic binding constant (Kb) was determined as 1.25 × 104 M-1, which is more in keeping with the groove binding with DNA. Furthermore, competitive fluorimetric studies with Hoechst33258 have shown that Cu(II) complex exhibits the ability to displace the ct-DNA-bound Hoechst33258 indicating that it binds to ct-DNA in strong competition with Hoechst33258 for the groove binding. Also, no change in the relative viscosity of ct-DNA and fluorescence intensity of ct-DNA-MB complex in the present of Cu(II) complex is another evidence to groove binding. The thermodynamic parameters are calculated by van't Hoff equation, which demonstrated that hydrogen bonds and van der Waals interactions played major roles in the binding reaction. The experimental results were in agreement with the results obtained via molecular docking study.

Experimental and molecular modeling studies on the DNA-binding of diazacyclam-based acrocyclic copper complex.

The interaction of a new macrocyclic copper complex, [CuL(NO3)2] in which L is 1,3,6,10,12,15-hexaaza tricyclo[13.3.1.16,10] eicosane was investigated in vitro under simulated physiological conditions by multi-spectroscopic techniques and molecular modeling study. The fluorescence spectroscopy and UV absorption spectroscopy indicated the complex interacted with ct-DNA in a groove binding mode while the binding constant of UV-vis and the number of binding sites were 1.0±0.2×104Lmol-1 and 1.01, respectively. The fluorometric studies showed that the reaction between the complex with ct-DNA is exothermic (ΔH=14.85kJmol-1; ΔS=109.54Jmol-1K-1). Circular dichroism spectroscopy (CD) was employed to measure the conformational change of DNA in the presence of [CuL(NO3)2] complex. Furthermore, the complex induces detectable changes in the viscosity of DNA. The molecular modeling results illustrated that the complex strongly binds to groove of DNA. Experimental and molecular modeling results showed that Cu(II) complex bound to DNA by a groove binding mode.