0000000000188382
AUTHOR
Anna Maria Giuliani
The interaction of native calf thymus DNA with FeIII-dipyrido[3,2-a:2’,3’-c]phenazine
The mono and bis dipyrido[3,2-a:2',3'-c]phenazine (dppz) adducts of iron(III) chloride, i.e. [Fe(dppz)]Cl(3) and [Fe(dppz)(2)]Cl(3), have been synthesized and characterized. The interaction of the Fe(III)dppz hydrolyzed aquo complex with native calf thymus DNA has been monitored as a function of the metal complex-DNA molar ratio, by variable temperature UV absorption spectrophotometry, circular dichroism (CD) and fluorescence spectroscopy. The results obtained in solution at various ionic strength values give support for a tight intercalative binding of the Fe(III)dppz cation with DNA. In particular, the appearance of induced CD bands, caused by the addition of Fe(III)dppz, indicate the exi…
Synthesis and spectroscopic studies (Mo¨ssbauer, IR and NMR) of [R2SnCl2bipym] (R = butyl or phenyl) and the crystal and molecular structure of [Ph2SnCl2bipym]
Abstract The complexes [R 2 SnCl 2 bipym] (R = phenyl or butyl, bipym = 2,2′,6,6′-bipyrimidine) were synthesized and studied in solution by 1 H- and 13 C-NMR spectroscopy and in the solid state by IR and Mo¨ssbauer spectroscopy. The latter was also performed in frozen ethanolic solution. The structure of the phenyl complex was determined by single crystal diffraction methods. The value obtained for the angle C-SN-C in the phenyl compound is 169.3(2)° (X-ray) and 151° (Mo¨ssbauer), but the assignment of an octahedral configuration by Mo¨ssbauer spectroscopy is consistent with the structure determined by diffraction. The butyl complex is also octahedral and the two techniques show better agre…
Titration of poly(dA-dT) · poly(dA-dT) in solution at variable NaCl concentration
CD and uv absorption data showed that high molecular weight poly(dA-dT) . poly(dA-dT), at 298 K, undergoes an acid-induced transition from B-double helix to random coil in NaCl solutions of different concentrations, ranging from 0.005 to 0.600M. Similarly, titration of the polynucleotide with a strong base causes duplex-to-single strands transition. The base- and acid-induced transitions were both reversible by back-titration (with an acid or, respectively, with a base): the apparent pKa were the same in both directions. However, the number of protons per titratable site (adenine N1) required to reach half-denaturation was in great excess over the stoichiometric value; to a much larger exte…
A truncated driven Overhauser effect study of Adriamycin in water: Conformation of the glycosidic linkage
Abstract Truncated driven nuclear Overhauser effect difference spectra have been used to ascertain the conformational characteristics of the glycosidic linkage of Adriamycin in aqueous solution. The “two-spin approximation” has been employed to evaluate the cross-relaxation rates between nearby protons and to obtain the relative internuclear distances. The rotational angles φ1 = C(7)−O(7)−C(1′)−(H1′) and φ2 = H(7)−C(7)−O(7)−C(1′) have also been calculated.
Organometallic Complexes with Biological Molecules: VIII. Synthesis, Solid State andin vivo Investigation of Triorganotin(IV) Derivatives ofL-Homocysteic Acid
Several new triorganotin(IV) derivatives of L-homocysteic acid (L-HCAH) with formula R3Sn(L-HCA) (R=Me, nBu, Ph) have been synthesized. Their solid-state configurations were determined by IR and Mossbauer spectroscopy. The tin(IV) atom is five-coordinated in all the complexes, with the L-homocysteic acid behaving as a monoanionic bidentate ligand coordinating the tin(IV) atom through a chelating or bridging carboxylate group. The sulfonate (SO3−) and NH3+ groups of L-homocysteic acid maintain their free acid configuration and hence do not participate to the coordination of the tin(IV) atom. Coordination hypotheses have been checked through the correlation between the Mossbauer parameter iso…
Poloxamer/sodium cholate co-formulation for micellar encapsulation of Doxorubicin with high efficiency for intracellular delivery: an in-vitro bioavailability study
Abstract Hypothesis Doxorubicin hydrochloride (DX) is widely used as a chemotherapeutic agent, though its severe side-effects limit its clinical use. A way to overcome these limitations is to increase DX latency through encapsulation in suitable carriers. However, DX has a high solubility in water, hindering encapsulation. The formulation of DX with sodium cholate (NaC) will reduce aqueous solubility through charge neutralization and hydrophobic interactions thus facilitating DX encapsulation into poloxamer (F127) micelles, increasing drug latency. Experiments DX/NaC/PEO-PPO-PEO triblock copolymer (F127) formulations with high DX content (DX-PMs) have been prepared and characterized by scat…
Phospholipid-based reverse micelles.
Physicochemical investigations on the aggregation of phospholipids (mainly phosphatidylcholines) in organic solvents are reviewed and compared with the aggregation behaviour of phospholipids in aqueous medium. In particular we review the data showing that phosphatidylcholines (lecithins) form reverse micellar structures in certain apolar solvents. In these systems not only low molecular weight compounds but also catalytically active enzymes and entire cells can be solubilized. In addition, highly viscous phosphatidylcholine gels can be obtained in organic solvents upon solubilizing a critical amount of water. Generally, phospholipid-based reverse micelles can be regarded as thermodynamicall…
A Stereochemically Driven Supramolecular Polymerisation
Anthracyclines self-assemble in water into dimers. In the presence of sufficiently high salt (NaCl) concentrations, solutions of the antibiotic doxorubicin, but not those of the closely related molecules daunomycin and epirubicin, turn into gels barely compatible with the presence of small oligomers. The use of spectroscopic, scattering, imaging and computational techniques, allowed light to be shed on the self-assembly process that triggered doxorubicin gelification. A complex picture emerged, with doxorubicin molecules assembled into long, highly chiral, supramolecular aggregates made of hundreds of units, showing redshifted fluorescence spectra, very short fluorescence lifetimes and smal…
PolyAT chemical denaturation in w/o microemulsion
CD and UV spectroscopies have been used to investigate the effects caused by the addition of either strong acid-or base-containing microemulsions on the behaviour of the synthetic polynucleotide polyAT entrapped in the aqueous core of a cationic quaternary water-in-oil microemulsion (μE). The titrations were performed in the presence of variable concentrations of NaCl, in the range 0.00 to 0.60 M. In both cases, the primary effect was the reversible transition from B-double helix to random coil of the guest polynucleotide. However, in the microemulsive medium, the number of moles of protons (RH) and hydroxide ions (ROH) per mole of titrable sites are independent of the salt concentration bu…
Tin(IV), Monomethyltin(IV), and Dimethyltin(IV) Complexes with thiol sulfur and heterocyclic nitrogen donors: Molecular dynamics and structure by119Sn m�ssbauer spectroscopy
The molecular dynamics of the complexes Sn(SPyN)4 (1), SnCl2(SPyN)2 (2), MeSn(SPy)3 (3), MeSnCl(SPyN)2 (4), Me2Sn(TCy)2 (5), Me2SnCl(TOx) (6), and Me2Sn(TUr) (7) [HSPy = 2-mercaptopyridine; HSPyN = 2-mercaptopyrimidine; HTCy = 2-thiocytosine; HTOx = 8-thioquinoline; H2TUr = 2-thiouracil] has been investigated by variable temperature 119Sn Mossbauer spectroscopy. The area under the resonant peaks has been determined as function of temperature, from which Debye temperatures and cut-off frequencies, as well as recoil-free fractions (Lamb Mossbauer factor) and mean square displacements of 119Sn, have been calculated. By fingerprint procedures on the basis of literature data, monomeric structure…
The interaction of organotins with native DNA
The compounds R2SnCl2 and R3SnCl (RMe, Et, nBu, nOct, Ph, in ethanol solution) as well as the aqueous species [Me2Sn(OH2)n]2+ and [Me3Sn(OH2)2]+, react with aqueous native DNA, yielding solid phases. According to the pointcharge model treatment of the 119Sn Mossbauer parameter nuclear quadrupole splitting, trans-octahedral R2Sn(O2PXY)2, and trigonalbipyramidal R3Sn(O2PXY), (RMe, Et, nBu), would occur in the pellets, the tin atoms being coordinated by phosphodiester groups of the nucleic acid. The precipitates from Ph2SnIV would consist of the DNA complex as well as of the Ph2SnIV distannoxane obtained by hydrolysis of the reactant, whilst nOct2SnCl2, nOct3SnCl and Ph3SnCl would mainly yield…
Organometallic complexes with biological molecules. X: dialkyltin(IV) and trialkyltin(IV) orotates: spectroscopic andin vivo investigations
Several novel diorgano- and triorgano-tin(IV) derivatives of orotic acid, (2,6-dihydroxypyrimidine-4-carboxylic acid; H 3 or) have been synthesized. In the diorganotin(IV) derivatives, the orotic acid behaved either as a monoanionic or as a dianionic ligand, yielding R 2 Sn(H 2 or) 2 and R 2 SnHor (R = Me, Bu) species, respectively, while in the triorganotin(IV) orotates only monodeprotonation of the orotic acid occurred, giving R 3 SnH 2 or (R = Me, Bu) derivatives. Structural hypotheses are proposed and discussed for the solid state based on Mossbauer and IR spectroscopic data, and for solution on 1 H and 1 C NMR results. Finally, investigations have been carried out in vivo, showing the …
Synthesis, spectroscopic (Mössbauer, IR and NMR) and X-ray structural studies of diorganotin complexes of 2,2′-bipyrimidine and further NMR studies of diorganotin-pyrazine and — 2,2′-azopyridine complexes
Abstract The ligand 2,2′-bipyrimidine (bipym) was reacted with diorganotins R 2 SnCl 2 (R = methyl, ethyl) and complexes of the types R 2 SnCl 2 bipym, R 2 SnCl 2 bipym · bipym and (R 2 SnCl 2 ) 2 bipym were synthesized and studied by 1 H and 13 C NMR spectroscopy in solution, and by IR and Mossbauer spectroscopy in the solid state and frozen solutions. The complexes Et 2 SnCl 2 bipym · bipym and (Et 2 SnCl 2 ) 2 bipym were characterized by X-ray diffraction methods. In both complexes the tin environment is octahedral with chloro atoms in a cis disposition, the ethyl groups in a trans disposition and two N atoms from the ligand bipym. the second complex is a centrosymmetric binuclear specie…
The self-association equilibria of doxorubicin at high concentration and ionic strength characterized by fluorescence spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations
Abstract The self-association equilibria of doxorubicin hydrochloride (DX), at high drug and NaCl concentrations, are studied by temperature scan fluorescence spectroscopy, with the support of molecular dynamics (MD) calculations. Even though all anthracyclines show dimerization equilibria, DX only can further associate into long polymeric chains according to DXmon ⇄ DXdim ⇄ DXpol. This is reflected not only in the mechanical properties of DXpol solutions (behaving as thixotropic gels) but also in their spectroscopic behaviour. Fluorescence, in particular, is the technique of election to study this complex set of equilibria. Upon increasing the temperature, DXpol melts into DXdim, which in …
A fluorescence study of the loading and time stability of doxorubicin in sodium cholate/PEO-PPO-PEO triblock copolymer mixed micelles
Abstract Hypothesis Doxorubicin hydrochloride (DX) is one of the most powerful anticancer agents though its clinical use is impaired by severe undesired side effects. DX encapsulation in nanocarrier systems has been introduced as a mean to reduce its toxicity. Micelles of the nonionic triblock copolymers of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly(propylene oxide) (PPO) (PEO-PPO-PEO), are very promising carrier systems. The positive charge of DX confines the drug to the hydrophilic corona region of the micelles. The use of mixed micelles of PEO-PPO-PEO copolymers and a negatively charged bile salt should favour the solubilization of DX in the apolar core region of the micelles. Experiments We st…
Interaction of Cd(II) and Ni(II) terpyridine complexes with model polynucleotides: A multidisciplinary approach
Two metal complexes of 2,2′:6′,2′′-terpyridine (terpy), i.e. Cd(terpy)Cl2 and Ni(terpy)Cl2·3H2O, have been prepared and extensively characterized. The interaction of Cd(terpy)Cl2 with synthetic DNA models, poly(dA-dT)·poly(dA-dT) (polyAT) and poly(dG-dC)·poly(dG-dC) (polyGC), has been studied by CD, fluorescence and UV-vis electronic absorption spectroscopy at several metal/polynucleotide–phosphate ratios and for different NaCl concentrations. All the experimental results indicate an intercalative mechanism of interaction. The optimized geometry of the cadmium complex intercalated between the sixth and seventh base pairs of (AT) and (GC) dodecanucleotide duplexes, obtained by quantum mechan…
Interaction of Doxorubicin with Polynucleotides. A Spectroscopic Study
The interaction of doxorubicin (DX) with model polynucleotides poly(dG-dC)·poly(dG-dC) (polyGC), poly(dA-dT)·poly(dA-dT) (polyAT), and calf thymus DNA has been studied by several spectroscopic techniques in phosphate buffer aqueous solutions. UV-vis, circular dichroism, and fluorescence spectroscopic data confirm that intercalation is the prevailing mode of interaction, and also reveal that the interaction with AT-rich regions leads to the transfer of excitation energy to DX not previously documented in the literature. Moreover, the DX affinity for AT sites has been found to be on the same order of magnitude as that reported for GC sites.
Natural or synthetic nucleic acids encapsulated in a closed cavity of amphiphiles
In this review some aspects of the interactions of organized structures of amphiphiles with natural or synthetic DNAs are briefly considered. In particular DNAs encapsulated in closed cavities of amphiphiles, specifically giant vesicles and water-in-oil droplets and reverse micelles, are dealt with. Two main applications of giant vesicles are reviewed in detail, namely their use as microreactors where reactions can be followed by optical microscopy on a single vesicle and in synthetic biology as protocell models or as potential semi-synthetic ‘‘living’’ cells. Water-in-oil droplets uses for rapid and relatively low-cost DNA amplification by PCR reaction are described as well as for in vitro…
Circular dichroism of polynucleotides: Interactions of NiCl2 with poly(dA-dT).poly(dA-dT) and poly(dG-dC).poly(dG-dC) in a water-in-oil microemulsion.
The thermal behavior of the synthetic, high molecular weight, double stranded polynucleotides poly(dA-dT)·poly(dA-dT) [polyAT] and poly(dG-dC)·poly(dG-dC) [polyGC] solubilized in the aqueous core of the quaternary water-in-oil cationic microemulsion CTAB|n-pentanol|n-hexane|water in the presence of increasing amounts of NiCl2 at several constant ionic strength values (NaCl) has been studied by means of circular dichroism and electronic absorption spectroscopies. In the microemulsive medium, both polynucleotides show temperature-induced modifications that markedly vary with both Ni(II) concentration and ionic strength. An increase of temperature causes denaturation of the polyAT duplex at lo…
Alkaline titrations of poly(dG-dC).poly(dG-dC): microemulsion versus solution behaviour
PolyGC was titrated with a strong base in the presence of increasing concentrations of NaCl (from 0.00 to 0.60M) either in water solution or with the polynucleotide solubilized in the aqueous core of reverse micelles, i.e., the cationic quaternary water-in-oil microemulsion CTAB/n-hexane/n-pentanol/water. The results for matched samples in the two media were compared. CD and UV spectroscopies and, for the solution experiments, pH measurements were used to follow the course of deprotonation. In both media the primary effect of the addition of base was denaturation of the polynucleotide, reversible by back-titration with a strong acid. In solution, the apparent pK(a) of the transition decreas…
Effect of the Alkaline Cations on the Stability of the Model Polynucleotide Poly(dG-dC)·Poly(dG-dC)
When the model polynucleotide poly(dG-dC)∙poly(dG-dC) [polyGC] is titrated with a strong acid (HCl) in unbuffered aqueous solutions containing the chlorides of the alkali metals in the concentration range 0.010 M-0.600 M, two transitions in the absorbance vs. pH plots are evidenced, characterized by the constants pK(a(₁)) and pK(a(₂)). The limiting values at infinite saline concentrations of these two constants, namely pK(∞)(a(₁)) and pK(∞)(a(₂)) obtained making use of the "one site saturation constant" equation or, in turn, of the double logarithmic plot: pK(a) vs. log([salt]⁻¹), exhibit a clear dependence on the nature of the cations. The effects of the different alkali cations on the pK(…
Organometallic complexes with biological molecules. IX. Diorgano- and triorgano-tin(IV)[meso-tetra (4-sulfonatophenyl)porphinate] derivatives: solid-state and solution-phase structural aspects andin vivo effects
Diorgano- and triorgano-tin(IV) derivatives of meso-tetra(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphine (H4TPPS) with general formula (R2Sn)2TPPS and (R3Sn)4TPPS (TPPS4−=[meso-tetra(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphinate]4−, R=Me, Bu, Ph) have been obtained and their solid-state configuration inferred on the basis of IR and Mossbauer spectroscopy, while solution-phase studies have been carried out by 1H and 13C NMR in DMSO-d6, together with determination of the in vivo cytotoxicity of the new derivatives towards embryonic development of Ciona intestinalis. In particular, octahedral and trigonal-bipyramidal eq-R3Sn polymeric configurations are proposed, in the solid state, respectively for (R2Sn)2TPPS and (R3Sn)4TPPS co…
INTERACTIONS OF ORGANOTIN(IV) HALIDES WITH REDUCED GLUTATHIONE IN AQUEOUS-SOLUTION
Abstract Glutathione (GSH) is a compound extremely common among many living organisms in which it plays a fundamental role in the processes of detoxification. Also, organotin(IV) derivatives are more and more commonly used in technological processes or as antitumor drugs. So it seemed interesting to investigate the possible interactions between GSH and organotin compounds in water. Particularly, it has been studied because of its role in the organic radicals linked to the tin center on the stoichiometry and the structure of the adducts. Information was obtained following the reaction between Me n SnCl 4-n (n = 1 to 3) and GSH by Mossbauer and NMR spectroscopies on the assumption that change…
Acid Titrations of poly(dG-dC).poly(dG-dC) in Aqueous Solution and in a w/o Microemulsion
The model polynucleotide poly(dG-dC).poly(dG-dC) (polyGC) was titrated with a strong acid (HCl) in aqueous unbuffered solutions and in the quaternary w/o microemulsion CTAB/n-pentanol/n-hexane/water. The titrations, performed at several concentrations of NaCl in the range 0.005 to 0.600 M, were followed by recording the modifications of the electronic absorption and of the CD spectra (210or = lambdaor =350 nm) upon addition of the acid. In solution, the polynucleotide undergoes two acid-induced transitions, neither of which corresponds to denaturation of the duplex to single coil. The first transition leads to the Hoogsteen type synG.C+ duplex, while the second leads to the C+.C duplex. The…
Spectroscopic study of polynucleotides in cationic W/O microemulsions
Water has an active and key role in determining the structure of DNA. Entrapment of DNA and of synthetic model polynucleotides in reverse micelles, where the water activity can easily be modulated, may be a useful way of assessing the influence of water on DNA characteristics; it may also offer useful ideas on the problem of how the giant DNA molecule can be confined in the limited space of cell nuclei. The quaternary microemulsion CTAB n-hexane|n-pentanol| water was used to entrap calf thymus DNA, and the model polynucleotides single-strand polyA, single-strand polyT and duplex polyAT. Ultraviolet spectros-copy, specifically the band at 260 nm, was used to compare the pairing of complement…