Search results for " G-quadruplex"

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 Investi…

2016

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)]…

DESIGN, SYNTHESIS, AND BIOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF NOVEL HETEROCYCLIC DERIVATIVES AS MODULATORS OF B-DNA AND G-QUADRUPLEXES DNA FUNCTIONS

Development of Polyamine‐Substituted Triphenylamine Ligands with High Affinity and Selectivity for G‐Quadruplex DNA

2019

Currently, significant efforts are devoted to designing small molecules able to bind selectively to guanine quadruplexes (G4s). These noncanonical DNA structures are implicated in various important biological processes and have been identified as potential targets for drug development. Previously, a series of triphenylamine (TPA)-based compounds, including macrocyclic polyamines, that displayed high affinity towards G4 DNA were reported. Following this initial work, herein a series of second-generation compounds, in which the central TPA has been functionalised with flexible and adaptive linear polyamines, are presented with the aim of maximising the selectivity towards G4 DNA. The acid-bas…

Combined spectroscopic and theoretical analysis of the binding of a water-soluble perylene diimide to DNA/RNA polynucleotides and G-quadruplexes.

2021

We present here a combined spectroscopic and theoretical analysis of the binding of N,N’-bis(2-(1-piperazino)ethyl)-3,4,9,10-perylenetetracarboxylic acid diimide dichloride (PZPERY) to different biosubstrates. Absorbance titrations and circular dichroism experiments, melting studies and isothermal calorimetry (ITC) titrations reveal a picture where the binding to natural double-stranded DNA is very different from that to double and triple-stranded RNAs (poly(A)∙poly(U) and poly(U)∙poly(A)⁎poly(U)). As confirmed also by the structural and energetic details clarified by density functional theory (DFT) calculations, intercalation occurs for DNA, with a process driven by the combination of aggr…

SELECTIVE G-QUADRUPLEX STABILIZERS: SALPHEN-LIKE COMPLEXES WITH ANTIPROLIFERATIVE ACTIVITY

2013

Schiff base complexes derived from N,N!-bridged tetradentate ligands involving N2O2 donor atoms present very favourable features to act as G4 binders. Thus, a series of square-planar and square pyramidal metal complexes, ML2+ (M = Ni, Cu, and Zn), have been synthesized and characterized.

Ruthenium-arene complexes bearing naphthyl-substituted 1,3-dioxoindan-2-carboxamides ligands for G-quadruplex DNA recognition.

2019

Quadruplex nucleic acids – DNA/RNA secondary structures formed in guanine rich sequences – proved to have key roles in the biology of cancers and, as such, in recent years they emerged as promising targets for small molecules. Many reports demonstrated that metal complexes can effectively stabilize quadruplex structures, promoting telomerase inhibition, downregulation of the expression of cancer-related genes and ultimately cancer cell death. Although extensively explored as anticancer agents, studies on the ability of ruthenium arene complexes to interact with quadruplex nucleic acids are surprisingly almost unknown. Herein, we report on the synthesis and characterization of four novel Ru(…

Anticancer Activity, Reduction Mechanism and G-Quadruplex DNA Binding of a Redox-Activated Platinum(IV)–Salphen Complex

2022

Aiming at reducing the unselective cytotoxicity of Pt(II) chemotherapeutics, a great deal of effort has been concentrated into the design of metal-containing drugs with different anticancer mechanisms of action. Inert Pt(IV) prodrugs have been proposed to be a valid alternative as they are activated by reduction directly into the cell releasing active Pt(II) species. On the other hand, a promising strategy for designing metallodrugs is to explore new potential biological targets rather than canonical B-DNA. G-quadruplex nucleic acid, obtained by self-assembly of guanine-rich nucleic acid sequences, has recently been considered an attractive target for anticancer drug design. Therefore, comp…

G-quadruplex vs. duplex-DNA binding of nickel(II) and zinc(II) Schiff base complexes

2016

Novel nickel(II) (1) and zinc(II) (2) complexes of a Salen-like ligand, carrying a pyrimidine ring on the N,N' bridge, were synthesized and characterized. Their interaction with duplex and G-quadruplex DNA was investigated in aqueous solution through UV-visible absorption, circular dichroism and viscometry measurements. The results obtained point out that, while the zinc(II) complex does not interact with both duplex and G-quadruplex DNA, the nickel(II) complex 1 binds preferentially to G-quadruplex respect to duplex-DNA, with values of the DNA-binding constants, Kb, 2.6×10(5)M(-1) and 3.5×10(4)M(-1), respectively. Molecular dynamics simulations provided an atomic level model of the top-sta…

The Right Answer for the Right Electrostatics: Force Field Methods Are Able to Describe Relative Energies of DNA Guanine Quadruplexes

2014

Different force fields and approximate density functional theory were applied in order to study the rotamer space of the telomeric G-quadruplex DNA. While some force fields show an erratic behavior when it comes to the reproduction of the higher-order DNA conformer space, OPLS and MMFF implementations are able to reproduce the experimentally known energy order. The stabilizing effect of the AA (anti−anti) versus SA (syn−anti) conformer is analyzed applying mechanical bond strength descriptors (compliance constants). The fact that we observe the correct energy order using appropriate force fields is in contrast with results previously reported, which suggested the general inappropriateness o…

Does Ligand Symmetry Play a Role in the Stabilization of DNA G-Quadruplex Host-Guest Complexes?

2014

In efforts to find agents with improved biological activity against cancer cells, recent years have seen an increased interest in the study of small molecules able to bind the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) when it assumes secondary structures known as G-quadruplexes (G4s) preferring them over the B form. Currently, several compounds reported in literature have already shown to be good candidates as G4s DNA stabilizers. Even though some specific features for the G4s affinity are known, such as a π-delocalized system able to stack at the top/end of a G-tetrad and positively charged substituents able to interact with the grooves, it is not clear yet what kind of structural features affect more t…