Alda K.M. Holanda

A biphosphinic ruthenium complex with potent anti-bacterial and anti-cancer activity

Metal-based compounds have emerged as a novel strategy to improve our arsenal of medicines. Among these compounds, carbon monoxide donor agents have been developed mainly as metal complexes. These compounds have shown exciting biological activities, among them strong anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, and anticancer activity, although some of those properties might be associated with the metal moiety as well. Aiming to prepare a new ruthenium complex containing CO, we prepared a cis-[RuCl(CO)(dppb)(dppz)]PF6 complex (dppb = 1,4-bis(diphenylphosphino)butane and dppz = dipyrido[3,2-a:2′,3′-c]phenazine), which was fully characterized along with DFT studies. This compound exhibited great thermal stability in phosphate buffer solution, but showed fast and efficient release of CO upon light irradiation, including blue LED. Surprisingly, DNA binding was quite weak, despite the dppz ligand moiety, suggesting that steric effects prevented intercalation binding. Nonetheless, this compound exhibited promising antibiotic activity against S. aureus, S. epidermidis and C. albicans in a low micromolar range. However, there was no further improvement upon light irradiation suggesting that there is no role of CO. Additionally, cytotoxicity assay using cancer cells showed quite low IC50 (92 nM, HCT-116) along with moderate to low toxicity assayed in lymphocytes and Artemia. Altogether, these results supported that this compound has great potential as a biological agent, whereas neither CO release nor DNA binding seemed to have a direct role in its activity.

Photochemical and Electrochemical Study of the Release of Nitric Oxide from [Ru(bpy)2L(NO)](PF6)n Complexes (L = Imidazole, 1-Methylimidazole, Sulfite and Thiourea), Toward the Development of Therapeutic Photodynamic Agents

The development of NO photoreleaser compounds has important potential applications on medicine, particularly on preventing topic infections and controlling cancers. Due to these expectations, the photochemical release of nitric oxide from complexes of [Ru(bpy)2LX]n+, where L = imidazole, 1-methylimidazole, sulphite and thiourea and X = NO+ and NO2− was investigated employing spectroscopic and electrochemical techniques. The release of NO was confirmed by chronoamperometry using a NO selective electrode, while the other product, mainly [RuIIH2O], was detected by UV-Visible spectroscopy and electrochemical techniques for all complexes except for thiourea. The amount of NO released by these complexes upon irradiation was determined using a new developed method using square wave voltammetry.

A Potential Visible-Light NO Releaser: Synthesis, Reactivity and Vasodilator Properties

The cis-[Ru(bpy)2(4-bzpy)(NO)](PF6)3 complex was prepared (4-bzpy = 4-benzoylpyridine), and characterized by UV-visible, infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopies and electrochemical techniques. The reaction with cysteine was preliminarily investigated, aiming to shed light on the potential biological mechanism for NO or HNO release mediated by thiols. Furthermore, photochemical behavior of cis-[Ru(bpy)2(4-bzpy)(NO)](PF6)3 was studied, where it was observed NO release upon ultraviolet, blue and green light irradiations. This latter long wavelength showed still good efficiency, which has not been reported for this type of complex. This feature is very important for a potential application in phototherapy. Additionally, vasorelaxant activity was investigated in rat-isolated aorta. This compound exhibited a greater maximum efficacy than sodium nitroprusside (SNP) as a blood vessel relaxant. Nevertheless, the EC50 for SNP (13.3 nmol L) was 52-fold smaller than the EC50 for cis-[Ru(bpy)2(4-bzpy)NO](PF6)3 (690 nmol L). Altogether, these results suggest this complex is a promising NO donor agent deserving further biological studies.