Mao Zongwan

Novel dinuclear arene ruthenium(II) complexes: synthesis, structure, anticancer activity and interaction with DNA

Two new dinuclear Ru(II) arene M2L2 metallocycle complexes [Ru2( η 6- p -cymene)2(m-bitmb)2Cl2](SbF6)2 ( 1 ) and [Ru2( η 6-p-cymene)2(m-bitmb)2Cl2](CF3COO)2 ( 2 ) ( m -bitmb=1,3-bis(imidazol-1-ymethyl)-2,4,6-trimethylbenzene) were synthesized and characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction, 1H NMR, ESI-MS and elemental analysis. Results revealed that complex 1 and 2 are M2L2 dinuclear Ru–arene complexes with unique “chair-like” conformation. Both of complexes 1 and 2 had certain anti-cancer activity, and complex 2 performed good cytotoxic effect on HeLa cells. The results of circular dichroism and agarose gel electrophoresis experiments indicated that complexes 1 and 2 could change the conformation of CT-DNA and PRB322 DNA. Moreover, compared with 1 , 2 presented much stronger interaction with DNA, which was in accordance with their anti-cancer activities.

The study of G-quadruplex stabilizers

Human telomere consists of a series of DNA sequences rich in Guanine, which may form G-quadruplex structure. The formation and stabilization of the specific structure by small molecular compounds can not only inhibit the telomerase and disrupt the mechanism of the maintenance of telomere in cancer cells but also work as a probe for G-quedruplex on the research of the biological functions of G-quadruplex and diagnosis of relevant diseases. So the designing of stabilizers of G-quadruplex has been one of the focuses of chemical biology in recent years. The G-quadruplex stabilizers can be divided in two types up to now: small organic molecular compounds and metal complexes. This review focuses on the latest progress of the two parts, especially the latter one.