Metal(triphenylphosphine)-atovaquone Complexes: Synthesis, Antimalarial Activity, and Suppression of Heme Detoxification.

To ascertain the bioinorganic chemistry of metals conjugated with quinones, the complexes [Ag(ATV)(PPh3)2] (1), [Au(ATV)(PPh3)]·2H2O (2), and [Cu(ATV)(PPh3)2] (3) were synthesized by the coordination of the antimalarial naphthoquinone atovaquone (ATV) to the starting materials [Ag(PPh3)2]NO3, [Au(PPh3)Cl], and [Cu(PPh3)2NO3], respectively. These complexes were characterized by analytical and spectroscopical techniques. X-ray diffraction of single crystals precisely confirmed the coordination mode of ATV to the metals, which was monodentate or bidentate, depending on the metal center. Both coordination modes showed high stability in the solid state and in solution. All three complexes showed negative log D values at pH 5, but at pH 7.4, while complex 2 continued to have a negative log D value, complexes 1 and 3 displayed positive values, indicating a more hydrophilic character. ATV and complexes 1-3 could bind to ferriprotoporphyrin IX (FePPIX); however, only complexes 1-3 could inhibit ß-hematin crystal formation. Phenotype-based activity revealed that all three metal complexes are able to inhibit the growth of P. falciparum with potency and selectivity comparable to those of ATV, while the starting materials lack this activity. The outcomes of this chemical design may provide significant insights into structure-activity relationships for the development of new antimalarial agents.

Trans-[Pt(amine)Cl2(PPh3)] Complexes Target Mitochondria and Endoplasmic Reticulum in Gastric Cancer Cells.

Gastric cancer prognosis is still notably poor despite efforts made to improve diagnosis and treatment of the disease. Chemotherapy based on platinum agents is generally used, regardless of the fact that drug toxicity leads to limited clinical efficacy. In order to overcome these problems, our group has been working on the synthesis and study of trans platinum (II) complexes. Here, we explore the potential use of two phosphine-based agents with the general formula trans-[Pt(amine)Cl2(PPh3)], called P1 and P2 (with dimethylamine or isopropylamine, respectively). A cytotoxicity analysis showed that P1 and especially P2 decrease cell viability. Specifically, P2 exhibits higher activity than cisplatin in gastric cancer cells while its toxicity in healthy cells is slightly lower. Both complexes generate Reactive Oxygen Species, produce DNA damage and mitochondrial membrane depolarization, and finally lead to induced apoptosis. Thus, an intrinsic apoptotic pathway emerges as the main type of cell death through the activation of BAX/BAK and BIM and the degradation of MCL1. Additionally, we demonstrate here that P2 produces endoplasmic reticulum stress and activates the Unfolded Protein Response, which also relates to the impairment observed in autophagy markers such as p62 and LC3. Although further studies in other biological models are needed, these results report the biomolecular mechanism of action of these Pt(II)-phosphine prototypes, thus highlighting their potential as novel and effective therapies.

Identification of cuticular protein genes and analysis of their roles in phosphine resistance of the rusty grain beetle Cryptolestes ferrugineus.

The rusty grain beetle, Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens) is one of the most economically important stored grain pests, and it has evolved the high resistance to phosphine. Cuticular proteins (CPs) are the major structural components of insect cuticle, and previous studies have confirmed that CPs were involved in insecticide resistance. However, the CPs of C. ferrugineus are still poorly characterized, and thus we conducted transcriptome-wide identification of CP genes and analyze their possible relationships with phosphine resistance in this pest. In this study, a total of 122 putative CPs were annotated in the C. ferrugineus transcriptome data by blasting with the known CPs of Tribolium castaneum. The analysis of conserved motifs revealed these CPs of C. ferrugineus belonging to 9 different families, including 87 CPR, 13 CPAP1, 7 CPAP3, 3 Tweedle, 1 CPLCA, 1 CPLCG, 5 CPLCP, 2 CPCFC, and 3 CPFL proteins. The further phylogenetic analysis showed the different evolutionary patterns of CPs. Namely, we found some CPs (CPR family) formed species-specific protein clusters, indicating these CPs might occur independently among insect taxa, and while some other CPs (CPAP1 and CPAP3 family) shared a closer correlation based on the architecture of protein domains. Subsequently, the previous RNA-seq data were applied to establish the expression profiles of CPs in a phosphine susceptible and resistant populations of C. ferrugineus, and a large amount of CP genes were found to be over-expressed in resistant insects. Lastly, an up-regulated CP gene (CPR family) was selected for the further functional analysis, and after this gene was silenced via RNA interference (RNAi), the sensitivity to phosphine was significantly enhanced in C. ferrugineus. In conclusion, the present results provided us an overview of C. ferrugineus CPs, and which suggested that the CPs might play the critical roles in phosphine resistance.

Revisiting the anticancer properties of phosphane(9-ribosylpurine-6-thiolato)gold(I) complexes and their 9H-purine precursors.

New mono- and di-nuclear thio-purine and thio-purine nucleoside gold(I) complexes were synthesized, characterized, and evaluated in vitro for biological activities in comparison to related known purine complexes. By combining known anti-tumoral thio-purines with R3PAu moieties as present in auranofin, complexes with enhanced effects and selectivities were obtained, which not only act as cytostatics, but also disrupt tumor-specific processes. Their IC50 values in cytotoxicity test with tumor cell lines ranged from three-digit nanomolar to single-digit micromolar, revealing a tentative structure-activity relationship (SAR). Both the residues R2 of the phosphane ligand and R1 at C2 of the pyrimidine ring had a significant impact on the cytotoxicity. In most cases, the introduction of a ribo-furanosyl group at N9 of the purine led to a distinctly more cytotoxic complex. Most complexes were more active against multi-drug-resistant tumor cells or such lacking functional p53 when compared to the respective untreated wild type cell lines. Some nucleoside complexes displayed an interesting dose-dependent dual mode of action regarding cell cycle arrest and DNA repair mechanism. Some phosphane(purine-6-thiolato)gold (I) complexes had a stronger inhibitory effect on the thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) and on the reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in cancer cells than is typical of other gold complexes. They also led to DNA fragmentation and showed anti-angiogenic effects. Their stability under test conditions was demonstrated by 77Se NMR monitoring of an exemplary selenopurine complex.

Ruthenafuran Complexes Supported by the Bipyridine-Bis(diphenylphosphino)methane Ligand Set: Synthesis and Cytotoxicity Studies.

Mononuclear and dinuclear Ru(II) complexes cis-[Ru(κ2-dppm)(bpy)Cl2] (1), cis-[Ru(κ2-dppe)(bpy)Cl2] (2) and [Ru2(bpy)2(µ-dpam)2(µ-Cl)2](Cl)2 ([3](Cl)2) were prepared from the reactions between cis(Cl), cis(S)-[Ru(bpy)(dmso-S)2Cl2] and diphosphine/diarsine ligands (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine; dppm = 1,1-bis(diphenylphosphino)methane; dppe = 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane; dpam = 1,1-bis(diphenylarsino)methane). While methoxy-substituted ruthenafuran [Ru(bpy)(κ2-dppe)(C^O)]+ ([7]+; C^O = anionic bidentate [C(OMe)CHC(Ph)O]- chelate) was obtained as the only product in the reaction between 2 and phenyl ynone HC≡C(C=O)Ph in MeOH, replacing 2 with 1 led to the formation of both methoxy-substituted ruthenafuran [Ru(bpy)(κ2-dppm)(C^O)]+ ([4]+) and phosphonium-ring-fused bicyclic ruthenafuran [Ru(bpy)(P^C^O)Cl]+ ([5]+; P^C^O = neutral tridentate [(Ph)2PCH2P(Ph)2CCHC(Ph)O] chelate). All of these aforementioned metallafuran complexes were derived from Ru(II)-vinylidene intermediates. The potential applications of these metallafuran complexes as anticancer agents were evaluated by in vitro cytotoxicity studies against cervical carcinoma (HeLa) cancer cell line. All the ruthenafuran complexes were found to be one order of magnitude more cytotoxic than cisplatin, which is one of the metal-based anticancer agents being widely used currently.

Phosphine modification of proline-glycine-proline tripeptide and study of its neuroprotective properties.

BACKGROUND: Treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's disease, Huntington's chorea, Alzheimer's disease, is one of the priority directions in modern medicine. Thus, search and production of new physiologically active substances for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders is one of the most important tasks for organic chemistry. The approach based on the replacement of a peptide bond in a peptide molecule with a structural isostere, non-hydrolyzable methylene phosphoryl fragment makes it possible to increase the metabolic stability of peptide molecules to the destructive action of peptidases. METHODS: This work is devoted to the approbation of a new synthetic approach to the production of physiologically active substances in a series of peptide-type compounds with activity by replacing the peptide bond with isosteric methylene-phosphoryl fragment with the preservation of the original amino acid sequence. RESULTS: A phosphine analog of the known physiologically active tripeptide proline-glycine-proline was obtained, cytotoxicity and neuroprotective properties of the initial tripeptide and its phosphine analog were studied. CONCLUSION: Preliminary biological tests have shown that the obtained phosphine analog of the proline-glycine-proline tripeptide is involved in modulating the formation of sediments in the cellular system of proteinopathy, which may indicate their potential antiaggregatory properties.

Mitochondrial Membrane Disrupting Molecules for Selective Killing of Senescent Cells.

Cellular senescence, a stable form of cell cycle arrest, facilitates protection from tumorigenesis and aids in tissue repair as they accumulate in the body at an early age. However, long-term retention of senescent cells causes inflammation, aging of the tissue, and progression of deadly diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and atherosclerosis. Various attempts have been made to achieve selective elimination of senescent cells from the body, yet little has been explored in designing the mitochondria-targeted senolytic agent. Many characteristics of senescence are associated with mitochondria. Here we have designed a library of alkyl-monoquaternary ammonium-triphenyl phosphine (TPP) and alkyl-diquaternary ammonium-TPP of varying alkyl chain lengths, which target the mitochondria; we also studied their senolytic properties. It was observed that the alkyl-diquaternary ammonium-TPP with the longest chain length induced apoptosis in senescent cells selectively via an increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial membrane disruption. This study demonstrates that mitochondria could be a potential target for designing new small molecules as senolytic agents for the treatment of a variety of dysfunctions associated with pathological aging.

1,2,3-Triazole-gold(I)-triethylposphine derivatives active against resistant Gram-positive pathogens.

Innovative organogold(I) antibacterial compounds were synthesized by click chemistry with triethylphosphine-gold(I) azides and an alkyne derivative. The resulting organo-gold(I) compounds exhibit high levels of antibacterial activity against Gram-positive pathogens, with particularly low MICs against Clostridium difficile.

Chelating Phosphine-N-Heterocyclic Carbene Platinum Complexes via Catalytic Asymmetric Hydrophosphination and Their Cytotoxicity Toward MKN74 and MCF7 Cancer Cell Lines.

A series of activated vinyl azoles was hydrophosphinated in the presence of a chiral palladacycle catalyst under mild conditions to give enantioenriched phosphine azoles with moderate enantioselectivities and yields. The racemic phosphine azoles were transformed into eleven novel chelating phosphine-N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) platinum complexes. The drug efficacies of nine selected phosphine-NHC platinum(II) chlorides in two cancer cell lines (MKN74 and MCF7) were evaluated, and two were found to exhibit activities comparable to that of cisplatin.

Ruthenium(II) Diphosphine Complexes with Mercapto Ligands That Inhibit Topoisomerase IB and Suppress Tumor Growth In Vivo.

Ruthenium(II) complexes (Ru1-Ru5), with the general formula [Ru(N-S)(dppe)2]PF6, bearing two 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane (dppe) ligands and a series of mercapto ligands (N-S), have been developed. The combination of these ligands in the complexes endowed hydrophobic species with high cytotoxic activity against five cancer cell lines. For the A549 (lung) and MDA-MB-231 (breast) cancer cell lines, the IC50 values of the complexes were 288- to 14-fold lower when compared to cisplatin. Furthermore, the complexes were selective for the A549 and MDA-MB-231 cancer cell lines compared to the MRC-5 nontumor cell line. The multitarget character of the complexes was investigated by using calf thymus DNA (CT DNA), human serum albumin, and human topoisomerase IB (hTopIB). The complexes potently inhibited hTopIB. In particular, complex [Ru(dmp)(dppe)2]PF6 (Ru3), bearing the 4,6-diamino-2-mercaptopyrimidine (dmp) ligand, effectively inhibited hTopIB by acting on both the cleavage and religation steps of the catalytic cycle of this enzyme. Molecular docking showed that the Ru1-Ru5 complexes have binding affinity by active sites on the hTopI and hTopI-DNA, mainly via π-alkyl and alkyl hydrophobic interactions, as well as through hydrogen bonds. Complex Ru3 displayed significant antitumor activity against murine melanoma in mouse xenograph models, but this complex did not damage DNA, as revealed by Ames and micronucleus tests.

Half-Sandwich Ru(p-cymene) Compounds with Diphosphanes: In Vitro and In Vivo Evaluation As Potential Anticancer Metallodrugs.

Ruthenium(II) complexes are currently considered attractive alternatives to the widely used platinum-based drugs. We present herein the synthesis and characterization of half-sandwich ruthenium compounds formulated as [Ru(p-cymene)(L)Cl][CF3SO3] (L = 1,1-bis(methylenediphenylphosphano)ethylene, 1; L = 1,1-bis(diphenylphosphano)ethylene, 2), which were characterized by elemental analysis, mass spectrometry, 1H and 31P{1H} NMR, UV-vis and IR spectroscopy, conductivity measurements and cyclic voltammetry. The molecular structures for both complexes were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Their cytotoxic activity was evaluated using the MTT assay against human tumor cells, namely ovarian (A2780) and breast (MCF7 and MDA-MB-231). Both complexes were active against breast adenocarcinoma cells, with complex 1 exhibiting a quite remarkable cytotoxicity in the submicromolar range. Interestingly, at concentrations equivalent to the IC50 values in the MCF7 cancer cells, complexes 1 and 2 presented lower cytotoxicity in normal human primary fibroblasts. The antiproliferative effects of 1 and 2 in MCF7 cells might be associated with the induction of reactive oxygen species (ROS), leading to a combined cell death mechanism via apoptosis and autophagy. Despite the fact that in vitro a partial intercalation between complexes and DNA was observed, no MCF7 cell cycle delay or arrest was observed, indicating that DNA might not be a direct target. Complexes 1 and 2 both exhibited a moderate to strong interaction with human serum albumin, suggesting that protein targets may be involved in their mode of action. Their acute toxicity was evaluated in the zebrafish model. Complex 1 (the most toxic of the two) exhibited a lethal toxicity LC50 value about 1 order of magnitude higher than any IC50 concentrations found for the cancer cell models used, highlighting its therapeutic relevance as a drug candidate in cancer chemotherapy.

Antiproliferative activity exerted by tricyclohexylphosphanegold(I) n-mercaptobenzoate against MCF-7 and A2780 cell lines: the role of p53 signaling pathways.

Based on the recent studies depicting the potential of heterometallic gold complexes as potent antiproliferative agents, herein we first reported the preliminary mechanistic data on the in-vitro antiproliferative activity of tricyclohexylphosphanegold(I) n-mercaptobenzoate, Cy3PAu(n-MBA) where n = 2 (1), 3 (2) and 4 (3), and MBA = mercaptobenzoic acid, treated using MCF-7 breast cancer and A2780 ovarian cancer cells, respectively. 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was used to assess the cytotoxicity of both cancer cells treated with 1-3, respectively. The IC50 of 1-3 were applied to the subsequent assays including cell invasion and thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) as well as ubiquitin activities specifically on Lys48 and Lys63-linked polyubiquitin chains via flowcytometric analysis. The mechanistic effect of 1-3 towards both cells were evaluated on human p53 signaling gene expressions via RT2 profiler Polymerase Chain Reductase (PCR) array. 1-3 were found to be highly cytotoxic towards both MCF-7 and A2780 cancer cell lines with the compounds were more sensitive towards the latter cells. 1-3 also suppressed TrxR and cell invasion activities by modulating p53 related genes related with proliferation, invasion and TrxR activities i.e. CCNB1, TP53, CDK4 etc. 1-3 also regulated Lys48 and Lys63-linked polyubiquitination by reactivation of p53, suggesting the ability of this gene in regulating inhibition of cytoskeletal reorganization via epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), required for tumor progression. Taken together, the overall findings denoted that 1-3 exerted potent antiproliferative activity in MCF-7 and A2780 cells via activation of the p53 signaling pathway.

Unique genetic variants in dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase (dld) gene confer strong resistance to phosphine in the rusty grain beetle, Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens).

The rusty grain beetle, Cryptolestes ferrugineus, a major pest of stored commodities, has developed very high levels (>1000×) of resistance to the fumigant phosphine. Resistance in this species is remarkably stronger than reported in any other stored product pests demanding the need to understand the molecular basis of this trait. Previous genetic studies in other grain insect pests identified specific variants in two major genes, rph1 and rph2 in conferring the strong resistance trait. However, in C. ferrugineus, although the gene, rph1 was identified as cytochrome-b5-fatty acid desaturase, the rph2 gene has not been reported so far. We tested the candidate gene for rph2, dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase (dld) using the recently published transcriptome of C. ferrugineus and identified three variants, L73N and A355G + D360H, a haplotype, conferring resistance in this species. Our sequence analysis in resistant strain and phosphine selected resistant survivors indicates that these variants occur either alone as a homozygote or a mixture of heterozygotes (i.e complex heterozygotes) both conferring strong resistance. We also found that one of the three variants, possibly L73N expressing "dominant" trait at low frequency in resistant insects. Comparison of dld sequences between Australian and Chinese resistant strain of this species confirmed that the identified variants are highly conserved. Our fitness analysis indicated that resistant insects may not incur significant biological costs in the absence of phosphine selection for 19 generations. Thus, we propose that the observed high levels of resistance in C. ferrugineus could be primarily due to the characteristics of three unique variants, L73N and A355G + D360H within dld.

Predicting Absorption-Distribution Properties of Neuroprotective Phosphine-Borane Compounds Using In Silico Modeling and Machine Learning.

Phosphine-borane complexes are novel chemical entities with preclinical efficacy in neuronal and ophthalmic disease models. In vitro and in vivo studies showed that the metabolites of these compounds are capable of cleaving disulfide bonds implicated in the downstream effects of axonal injury. A difficulty in using standard in silico methods for studying these drugs is that most computational tools are not designed for borane-containing compounds. Using in silico and machine learning methodologies, the absorption-distribution properties of these unique compounds were assessed. Features examined with in silico methods included cellular permeability, octanol-water partition coefficient, blood-brain barrier permeability, oral absorption and serum protein binding. The resultant neural networks demonstrated an appropriate level of accuracy and were comparable to existing in silico methodologies. Specifically, they were able to reliably predict pharmacokinetic features of known boron-containing compounds. These methods predicted that phosphine-borane compounds and their metabolites meet the necessary pharmacokinetic features for orally active drug candidates. This study showed that the combination of standard in silico predictive and machine learning models with neural networks is effective in predicting pharmacokinetic features of novel boron-containing compounds as neuroprotective drugs.

The Discrete Breast Cancer Stem Cell Mammosphere Activity of Group 10-Bis(azadiphosphine) Metal Complexes.

We report the anti-breast cancer stem cell (CSC) properties of a series of Group 10-bis(azadiphosphine) complexes 1-3 under exclusively three-dimensional cell culture conditions. The breast CSC mammosphere potency of 1-3 is dependent on the Group 10 metal present, increasing in the following order: 1 (nickel complex) <2 (palladium complex) <3 (platinum complex). Notably, 3 reduces the formation and size of mammospheres to a greater extent than salinomycin, an established CSC-active compound, or any reported anti-CSC metal complex tested under similar conditions. Mechanistic studies suggest that the most effective complexes 2 and 3 readily penetrate CSC mammospheres, enter CSC nuclei, induce genomic DNA damage, and trigger caspase-dependent apoptosis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to systematically probe the anti-CSC activity of a series of structurally related Group 10 complexes and to be conducted entirely using three-dimensional CSC culture conditions.

Phostine 3.1a as a pharmacological compound with antiangiogenic properties against diseases with excess vascularization.

Angiogenesis is a complex process leading to the growth of new blood vessels from existing vasculature, triggered by local proangiogenic factors such as VEGF. An excess of angiogenesis is a recurrent feature of various pathologic conditions such as tumor growth. Phostines are a family of synthetic glycomimetic compounds that exhibit anticancer properties, and the lead compound 3-hydroxy-4,5-bis-benzyloxy-6-benzyloxymethyl-2-phenyl2-oxo-2λ5-[1,2]oxaphosphinane (PST 3.1a) shows antiglioblastoma properties both in vitro and in vivo. In the present study, we assessed the effect of PST 3.1a on angiogenesis and endothelial metabolism. In vitro, PST 3.1a (10 µM) inhibited all steps that regulate angiogenesis, including migration, proliferation, adhesion, and tube formation. In vivo, PST 3.1a reduced intersegmental vessel formation and vascularization of the subintestinal plexus in zebrafish embryos and also altered pathologic angiogenesis and glioblastoma progression in vivo. Mechanistically, PST 3.1a altered interaction of VEGF receptor 2 and glycosylation-regulating protein galectin-1, a key component regulating angiogenesis associated with tumor resistance. Thus, these data show that use of PST 3.1a is an innovative approach to target angiogenesis.-Bousseau, S., Marchand, M., Soleti, R., Vergori, L., Hilairet, G., Recoquillon, S., Le Mao, M., Gueguen, N., Khiati, S., Clarion, L., Bakalara, N., Martinez, M. C., Germain, S., Lenaers, G., Andriantsitohaina, R. Phostine 3.1a as a pharmacological compound with antiangiogenic properties against diseases with excess vascularization.

Synthesis and anti-cancer activity of bis-amino-phosphine ligand and its ruthenium(II) complexes.

The development of both chemotherapeutic drug resistance as well as adverse side effects suggest that the current chemotherapeutic drugs remain ineffective in treating the various types of cancers. The development of new metallodrugs presenting anti-cancer activity is therefore needed. Ruthenium complexes have gained a great deal of interest due to their promising anti-tumour properties and reduced toxicity in vivo. This study highlighted the effective induction of cell death in a malignant melanoma cell by two novel bis-amino-phosphine ruthenium(II) complexes referred to as GA105 and GA113. The IC50 concentrations were determined for both the complexes, the ligand and cisplatin, for comparison. Both complexes GA105 and GA113 displayed a high anti-cancer selectivity profile as they exhibited low IC50 values of 6.72 µM and 8.76 µM respectively, with low toxicity towards a non-malignant human cell line. The IC50 values obtained for both complexes were lower than that of cisplatin. The new complexes were more effective compared to the free ligand, GA103 (IC50 = >20 µM). Morphological studies on treated cells induced apoptotic features, which with further studies could indicate an intrinsic cell death pathway. Additionally, flow cytometric analysis revealed that the mode of cell death of complex GA113 was apoptosis. The outcomes herein give further insight into the potential use of selected Ru(II) complexes as alternative chemotherapeutic drugs in the future.

Ruthenium(II) Phosphine/Mercapto Complexes: Their in Vitro Cytotoxicity Evaluation and Actions as Inhibitors of Topoisomerase and Proteasome Acting as Possible Triggers of Cell Death Induction.

In this paper, a series of new ruthenium complexes of the general formula [Ru(NS)(dpphpy)(dppb)]PF6 (Ru1-Ru3), where dpphpy = diphenyl-2-pyridylphosphine, NS ligands = 2-thiazoline-2-thiol (tzdt, Ru1), 2-mercaptopyrimidine (pySm, Ru2), and 4,6-diamino-2-mercaptopyrimidine (damp, Ru3), and dppb = 1,4-bis(diphenylphosphino)butane, were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, spectroscopic techniques (IR, UV/visible, and 1D and 2D NMR), and X-ray diffraction. In the characterization, the correlation between the phosphorus atoms and their respective aromatic hydrogen atoms of the compounds in the assignment stands outs, by 1H-31P HMBC experiments. The compounds show anticancer activities against A549 (lung) and MDA-MB-231 (breast) cancer cell lines, higher than the clinical drug cisplatin. All of the complexes are more cytotoxic against the cancer cell lines than against the MRC-5 (lung) and MCF-10A (breast) nontumorigenic human cell lines. For A549 tumor cells, cell cycle analysis upon treatment with Ru2 showed that it inhibits the mitotic phase because arrest was observed in the Sub-G1 phase. Additionally, the compound induces cell death by an apoptotic pathway in a dose-dependent manner, according to annexin V-PE assay. The multitargeted character of the compounds was investigated, and the biomolecules were DNA, topoisomerase IB, and proteasome, as well as the fundamental biomolecule in the pharmacokinetics of drugs, human serum albumin. The experimental results indicate that the complexes do not target DNA in the cells. At low concentrations, the compounds showed the ability to partially inhibit the catalytic activity of topoisomerase IB in the process of relaxation of the DNA plasmid. Among the complexes assayed in cultured cells, complex Ru3 was able to diminish the proteasomal chymotrypsin-like activity to a greater extent.

Silver(I) Complexes with Camphorsulfonato and Phosphine Ligands: Structural Diversity and Antibacterial Activity.

A series of silver(I) camphorsulfonato complexes containing various phosphine ligands having the stoichiometry [Ag(camphSO3)(PR3)] [PR3 = PTA (1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane), PASO2 (2-thia-1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane-2,2-dioxide), PPh3, PCy3, P(CH2CH2CN)3, PPyPh2, or P(o-tol)3] were prepared and fully characterized by NMR spectroscopic methods and X-ray crystallography. Depending on the nature of the phosphine, a variety of different supramolecular structures, including dimers, macrocycles, and coordination polymers, were observed in the solid state. The in vitro antimicrobial activity in seven different pathogens (Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii, Candida albicans, and Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii) as well as toxicity in human cells was also examined. While all compounds show some activity against the bacteria, they were especially active against the fungus C. neoformans. The most active and at the same time least toxic compound was found to be the water-soluble complex [Ag(camphSO3)(PTA)2].

Phosphine boranes as less hydrophobic building blocks than alkanes and silanes: Structure-property relationship and estrogen-receptor-modulating potency of 4-phosphinophenol derivatives.

Increasing structural options in medicinal chemistry is important for the development of novel and distinctive drug candidates. In this study, we focused on phosphorus-containing functionalities. We designed and synthesized a series of phosphinophenol derivatives and determined their physicochemical properties, including hydrophobicity parameter LogP, and their biological activity toward estrogen receptor (ER). Notably, the phosphine borane derivatives (9 and 14) exhibited potent ER-antagonistic activity, exceeding the potency of the corresponding alkane (15) and silane (16) derivatives, despite having a less hydrophobic nature. The determined physicochemical parameters will be helpful for the rational design of phosphorus-containing biologically active compounds. Our results indicate that phosphine boranes are a promising new chemical entry in the range of structural options for drug discovery.