0000000000143115

AUTHOR

Lara Massai

0000-0003-0765-1802

Antiproliferative Properties of a Few Auranofin-Related Gold(I) and Silver(I) Complexes in Leukemia Cells and their Interferences with the Ubiquitin Proteasome System

A group of triethylphosphine gold(I) and silver(I) complexes, structurally related to auranofin, were prepared and investigated as potential anticancer drug candidates. The antiproliferative properties of these metal compounds were assessed against two leukemia cell lines, i.e., CCRF-CEM and its multidrug-resistant counterpart, CEM/ADR5000. Interestingly, potent cytotoxic effects were disclosed for both series of compounds against leukemia cells, with IC50 values generally falling in the low-micromolar range, the gold derivatives being on the whole more effective than the silver analogues. Some initial structure-function relationships were drawn. Subsequently, the ability of the study compo…

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Determinants for Tight and Selective Binding of a Medicinal Dicarbene Gold(I) Complex to a Telomeric DNA G-Quadruplex: a Joint ESI MS and XRD Investigation

International audience; The dicarbene gold(I) complex [Au(9-methylcaffein-8-ylidene)(2)]BF4 is an exceptional organometallic compound of profound interest as a prospective anticancer agent. This gold(I) complex was previously reported to be highly cytotoxic toward various cancer cell lines invitro and behaves as a selective G-quadruplex stabilizer. Interactions of the gold complex with various telomeric DNA models have been analyzed by a combined ESI MS and X-ray diffraction (XRD) approach. ESI MS measurements confirmed formation of stable adducts between the intact gold(I) complex and Tel 23 DNA sequence. The crystal structure of the adduct formed between [Au(9-methylcaffein-8-ylidene)(2)]…

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Selected cytotoxic gold compounds cause significant inhibition of 20S proteasome catalytic activities

Abstract Six structurally diverse cytotoxic gold compounds are reported to cause profound and differential inhibition of the three main catalytic activities of purified 20S proteasome whilst auranofin , an established gold(I) drug in clinical use, is nearly ineffective. In particular, the gold(I) complex [( pbiH ) Au ( PPh 3 )] PF 6 , turns out to be the most potent inhibitor of all three enzyme activities with sub-micromolar IC 50 values. The present results further support the view that proteasome inhibition may play a major – yet not exclusive – role in the cytotoxic actions of gold based anticancer agents.

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[Au(9-methylcaffein-8-ylidene) 2 ] + /DNA Tel23 System: Solution, Computational, and Biological Studies

International audience; Physicochemical methods have been used to investigate interactions occurring in solution between the dicarbene gold(I) complex [Au(9‐methylcaffein‐8‐ylidene)2]BF4 (AuNHC) and a human telomeric DNA sequence, namely Tel23. Circular dichroism measurements allow identification of the conformational changes experienced by Tel23 upon interaction with AuNHC, and the respective binding stoichiometries and constants were determined. Computational studies provide a good link between previous crystallographic results of the same system and the present solution data, offering an exhaustive description of the inherent noncovalent metallodrug–DNA interactions. Remarkably, we found…

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