Issue 11, 2024

Exploring the cytotoxicity of dinuclear Ru(iip-cymene complexes appended N,N′-bis(4-substituted benzoyl)hydrazines: insights into the mechanism of apoptotic cell death

Abstract

Cancer is a perilous life-threatening disease, and attempts are constantly being made to create multinuclear transition metal complexes that could lead to the development of potential anticancer medications and administration procedures. Hence, this work aims to design, synthesize, characterize, and assess the anticancer efficacy of ruthenium p-cymene complexes incorporating N,N′-bis(4-substituted benzoyl)hydrazine ligands. The formation of the new complexes (Ru2H1–Ru2H3) has been thoroughly established by elemental analysis, and FT-IR, UV-vis, NMR, and HR-MS spectral techniques. The solid-state molecular structures of the complexes Ru2H1 and Ru2H3 have been determined using the SC-XRD study, which confirms the N, O, and Cl-legged piano stool pseudo-octahedral geometry of each ruthenium(II) ion. The stability of these complexes in the solution state and their lipophilicity profile have been determined. Furthermore, the title complexes were tested for their in vitro anticancer activity against cancerous H460 (lung cancer cells), SkBr3 (breast cancer cells), HepG2 (liver cancer cells), and HeLa (cervical cancer cells) along with non-cancerous (HEK-293) cells. The IC50 results revealed that complex Ru2H3 exhibits potent activity against the proliferation of all four cancer cells and outscored the effect of the standard metallodrug cisplatin. This may be attributed to the presence of a couple of lipophilic electron-donating methoxy groups in the ligand scaffold and also the ruthenium(II) p-cymene motifs. Advantageously, all the complexes (Ru2H1–Ru2H3) displayed cytotoxic specificity only towards cancerous cells by leaving the off-target non-cancerous cells undamaged. Acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB) staining, Hoechst 33342, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and reactive oxygen species (ROS) staining assays were used to investigate the apoptotic pathway and ROS levels in mitochondria. The results of western blot analysis confirmed that the complexes triggered apoptosis through an intrinsic mitochondrial pathway by upregulating Bax and downregulating Bcl-2 proteins. Finally, the extent of apoptosis triggered by the complex Ru2H3 was quantified with the aid of flow cytometry using the Annexin V-FITC/propidium iodide (PI) double-staining technique.

Graphical abstract: Exploring the cytotoxicity of dinuclear Ru(ii) p-cymene complexes appended N,N′-bis(4-substituted benzoyl)hydrazines: insights into the mechanism of apoptotic cell death

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
18 Dec 2023
Accepted
13 Feb 2024
First published
13 Feb 2024

Dalton Trans., 2024,53, 5167-5179

Exploring the cytotoxicity of dinuclear Ru(IIp-cymene complexes appended N,N′-bis(4-substituted benzoyl)hydrazines: insights into the mechanism of apoptotic cell death

A. Abirami, U. Devan, R. Ramesh, A. Antony Joseph Velanganni and J. G. Małecki, Dalton Trans., 2024, 53, 5167 DOI: 10.1039/D3DT04234K

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements