Qin, Jiao-Lan, Shen, Wen-Ying, Chen, Zhen-Feng, Zhao, Li-Fang, Qin, Qi-Pin, Yu, Yan-Cheng, and Liang, Hong
Three new oxoaporphine Co(II), Ni(II) and Zn(II) complexes 1-3 have been synthesized and fully characterized. 1-3 have similar mononuclear structures with the metal and ligand ratio of 1:2. 1-3 exhibited higher cytotoxicity than the OD ligand and cisplatin against HepG2, T-24, BEL-7404, MGC80-3 and SK-OV-3/DDP cells, with IC50 value of 0.23−4.31 μM. Interestingly, 0.5 μM 1-3 significantly caused HepG2 arrest at S-phase, which was associated with the up-regulation of p53, p21, p27, Chk1 and Chk2 proteins, and decrease in cyclin A, CDK2, Cdc25A, PCNA proteins. In addition, 1-3 induced HepG2 apoptosis via a caspase-dependent mitochondrion pathway as evidenced by p53 activation, ROS production, Bax up-regulation and Bcl-2 down-regulation, mitochondrial dysfunction, cytochrome c release, caspase activation and PARP cleavage. Furthermore, 3 inhibited tumor growth in HepG2 xenograft model, and displayed more safety profile in vivo than cisplatin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]