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Cancer continues to pose a global threat, underscoring the urgent need for more effective and safer treatment options. Gold-based compounds have recently emerged as promising candidates due to their diverse range of biological activities. In this study, three gold(III) complexes derived from thiosemicarbazone ligands have been synthesized, fully characterized, including their X-ray crystal structures. We conducted initial mode-of-action studies on DNA and BSA, followed by a comprehensive investigation into the cytotoxic effects of these novel gold(III) complexes on lung cancer cells (A549, H2052, and H28). The results demonstrated a concentration-dependent cytotoxic response, with H28 cells exhibiting the highest sensitivity to the treatment. Furthermore, the analysis of the cell cycle revealed that these compounds induce cell cycle arrest and promote apoptosis as a response to treatment. We also observed distinct morphological changes and increased oxidative stress, contributing significantly to cell death. Notably, these complexes exhibited the ability to suppress interleukin-6 production in mesothelioma cell lines, and this highlights their anti-inflammatory potential. To gain an initial understanding of cytotoxicity on healthy cells, hemolysis tests were conducted against human blood cells, with no evidence of hemolysis. Furthermore, a toxicity assessment through the in vivo Galleria mellonella model underscored the absence of detectable toxicity. These findings prove that these complexes are promising novel therapeutic agents for lung cancer., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

We report the synthesis and characterization of three half-sandwich Ru(II) arene complexes [(η 6 -arene)Ru(N,N')L][PF 6 ] 2 containing arene = p-cymene, N,N' = bipyridine, and L = pyridine meta- with methylenenaphthalimide (C1), methylene(nitro)naphthalimide (C2), or methylene(piperidinyl)naphthalimide (C3). The naphthalimide acts as an antenna for photoactivation. After 3 h of irradiation with blue light, the monodentate pyridyl ligand had almost completely dissociated from complex C3, which contains an electron donor on the naphthalimide ring, whereas only 50% dissociation was observed for C1 and C2. This correlates with the lower wavelength and strong absorption of C3 in this region of the spectrum (λ max = 418 nm) compared with C1 and C2 (λ max = 324 and 323 nm, respectively). All the complexes were relatively non-toxic towards A549 human lung cancer cells in the dark, but only complex C3 exhibited good photocytoxicity towards these cancer cells upon irradiation with blue light (IC 50 = 10.55 ± 0.30 μM). Complex C3 has the potential for use in photoactivated chemotherapy (PACT).

The synthesis, photoactivation and biological activity of a new piano-stool Ru(II) complex is herein reported. The peculiarity of this complex is that its monodentate ligand which undergoes the photodissociation is an asymmetric bis-thiocarbohydrazone ligand that possesses a pyridine moiety binding to Ru(II) and the other moiety contains a quinoline that endows the ligand with the capacity of chelating other metal ions. In this way, upon dissociation, the ligand can be released in the form of a metal complex. In this article, the double ability of this new Ru(II) complex to photorelease the ligand and to chelate copper and nickel is explored and confirmed. The biological activity of this compound is studied in cell line A549 revealing that, after irradiation, proliferation inhibition is reached at very low half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC 50 ) values. Further, biological assays reveal that the dinuclear complex containing Ni is internalized in cells.

Bis(S-citronellalthiosemicarbazonato)nickel(II), [Ni(tcitr)2], is a compound that inhibits proliferation of tumour line U937 by inducing a G2/M block and leading the cancer cells to apoptosis. This nickel derivative shows no activity on non proliferating healthy cells. In this paper we report our studies on the action mechanisms of [Ni(tcitr)2]. Apoptosis in U937 cells exposed to [Ni(tcitr)2] takes place through activation of caspase-9, and therefore through an intrinsic triggering mechanism. Given the DNA damage observed in the Comet assay, the mutagenic activity of the metal complex was tested, including with the Ames test, micronuclei and DNA damage recovery, but neither mutagenicity nor recovery were detected. Nickel-complex-DNA interactions were analyzed by direct action of the compound on plasmidic and linear DNA by UV-vis and CD spectroscopy, gel electrophoresis and Atomic Force Microscopy. These experiments reveal that [Ni(tcitr)2] does not cause DNA breaks and does not intercalate, but significantly alters the DNA conformation creating knot-like structures and hairpins.

In this paper the syntheses of new pyridoxal thiosemicarbazone copper(II) and cobalt(III) complexes with nitroprusside as a counterion and tests on the antileukemic activity of three of these complexes toward human cell lines U937 and CEM are reported. Nitroprusside was chosen in order to test if its ability to release NO can increase the biological activity already shown by these complexes. The compounds were characterized by spectroscopic and magnetic methods and by single-crystal X-ray diffraction.

New alpha-ketoglutaric acid thiosemicarbazone (H(3)ct) derivatives and their copper complexes were synthesized and characterized by analytical and spectroscopic (IR and NMR) methods. For two of the ligands, Me-H(3)ct and Allyl-H(3)ct, and for a complex, [Cu(Me-Hct)(OH(2))](n) x 2nH(2)O, the X-ray structures were also determined. In the latter the copper atom shows a 4 + 1 pyramidal coordination, a water oxygen appears in the apical position, and three of the basal positions are occupied by the SNO tridentate ligand and the fourth by a carboxylic oxygen of an adjacent molecule that gives rise to a polymeric chain. DNA binding constants were determined, and studies of thermal denaturation profiles and nuclease activity were also performed. Tests in vitro on human leukemia cell line U937 were carried out on cell growth inhibition, cell cycle, and apoptosis induction.

Nickel, copper, and zinc complexes of isatin (H(2)L(1)) and N-methylisatin 3-picolinoyl hydrazone (HL(2)), were synthesized and characterized by means of spectroscopic techniques. H(2)L(1) and a nickel complex [Ni(L(2))(2)].2C(6)H(14) were also characterized by X-ray diffractometry. Biological studies, carried out in vitro on human leukemic cell lines TOM 1 and NB4, have shown that both ligands and some copper and nickel complexes are active in inhibiting cell proliferation. Compounds H(2)L(1), Cu(HL(1))(2).2H(2)O, Zn(HL(1))(2).2H(2)O inhibit DNA synthesis and act constantly with time between 0 and 72 h. The cell cycle analysis has highlighted a reduction in the number of cells in phase S of about 40%. The same compounds present only a precocious action on cell line NB4 and therefore their activity is cell target specific.

A dimeric copper complex of the unsubstituted pyridoxal thiosemicarbazone (H(2)L), [[Cu(HL)(OH(2))](2)]Cl(2).2H(2)O, previously tested on Friend murine cell lines has been recently resynthesized to evaluate its behavior on different murine and human leukemic cell lines and has been compared, in vitro and in vivo, with its monomeric counterpart [Cu(H(2)L)(OH(2))Cl]Cl. On TS/A murine adenocarcinoma cell line in vitro, both compounds significantly inhibit cell proliferation at micromolar concentrations, although the dimeric compound is more active. Despite this cytotoxicity they lack in vivo activity on TLX5 lymphoma. The unsubstituted dimeric [[Cu(HL)(OH(2))](2)]Cl(2).2H(2)O induces apoptosis on CEM and U937 human cell lines, with IC(50) concentrations of 1.2 x 10(-5) and 6.7 x 10(-6) M, respectively, but it is inactive on K562. Moreover, it alters significantly the cell cycle of U937 and CEM lines and decreases the telomerase activity of U937. To verify if other dimeric copper complexes show relevant biological activity new complexes with N-substituted pyridoxal thiosemicarbazones have been synthesized and characterized using spectroscopic techniques. Three of them, namely [Cu(Me(2)-HL)Cl](2).6H(2)O (Me(2)-H(2)L=pyridoxal N1,N1-dimethylthiosemicarbazone) (1), [Cu(MeMe-HL)Cl](2)Cl(2).4H(2)O (MeMe-HL=pyridoxal N1,N2-dimethylthiosemicarbazone) (2), [Cu(Et-H(2)L)Cl](2)Cl(2).2H(2)O (Et-H(2)L=pyridoxal N1-ethylthiosemicarbazone) (3), were also characterized by X-ray diffractometry. These complexes are dimeric and all three present a square pyramidal coordinative geometry with the ligand showing an SNO tridentate behavior. Their biological activities have been tested in vitro on U937, CEM and K562 cell lines to ascertain their effectiveness in comparison to the corresponding unsubstituted complex [[Cu(HL)(OH(2))](2)]Cl(2).2H(2)O. Compound 1 shows weak proliferation inhibition on all three cell lines, but it does not induce apoptosis and it does not inhibit telomerase activity, compound 2 is not effective at low concentration and is toxic at higher doses; compound 3 inhibits CEM cell growth better than complex 1 but it does not exert any other biological effect.

Introduction: We report the results of a study investigating signaling proteins in 26 cases of primary acute myelogenous leukemia. We studied the Shc adaptor proteins p52/p46Shc, which can activate the RAS/Mitogen Activated Protein kinase pathway, p66Shc which is uncoupled from RAS/MAP kinases and the MAP kinase family members Extracellular signal Regulated Kinase (ERK) and c-Jun NH2-terminal protein Kinase (JNK) or Stress Activated Protein Kinase (SAPK)., Material and Methods: CD34+ and CD34- fractions of four human normal bone marrow and unfractionated bone marrow samples were investigated. Immunoblottings, immunoenzymatic and in vitro assays were performed., Results: Shc protein isoforms were constitutively expressed in all the AML cases examined. Tyrosine-phosphorylation of p53/p46Shc isoforms were found in CD34+ but not in the majority of CD34- cases. p66Shc isoform was not tyrosine-phosphorylated in CD34-, and was tyrosine-phosphorylated only in some CD34+ cases. Expression and activation of ERK was constitutively present in the majority of AML patients analysed. JNK/SAPK was expressed but not activated in the AMLs examined. Activation occurred after treatment of the leukemic cells by anisomycin, etoposide, and cytarabine. ERK and JNK/SAPK activation were not detectable in the hematopoietic precursors of human normal bone-marrow., Conclusion: These data bear implications for the role of Shc-MAP kinase pathway in normal hemopoiesis and AML leukemogenesis.

The complexes [SnR2(L)] (R = Me, Et, Bu, Ph; H2L = pyridoxal thiosemicarbazone) have been prepared and characterized. In the light of the spectral properties of the complexes in the solid state (IR, mass, Mössbauer) the bideprotonated thiosemicarbazonato anion is O(phenolic)-, N(3)-, S-bonded to the tin atom which probably has trigonal bipyramidal coordination with N(3) atom and R groups occupying equatorial positions. NMR ( 1H, 13C and 119Sn) data in CDCl3 or DMSO-d6 suggest that this coordinative picture remains in these solutions. The ethyl, butyl and phenyl derivatives suppress proliferation of Friend erithroleukaemia cells (FLC). Of the pyridoxal thiosemicarbazone complexes so far evaluated. [SnBu2(L)] and [SnPh2(L)] showed the lowest thresholds for inhibition of FLC proliferation. The effects of these compounds on DMSO-induced differentiation of FLC, DNA synthesis and reverse transcriptase were also assayed.

The synthesis, X-ray structure, behavior in solution, and biological properties of the complex [SnMe2(PyTSC)(OAc)].HOAc (HPyTSC = pyridine-2-carbaldehydethiosemicarbazone) are reported. The tin atom of this complex is coordinated to an N,N,S-tridentate PyTSC- anion, to a monodentate acetate ion, and to the two methyl groups in an approximately pentagonal bipyramidal environment with a vacant equatorial position. The complex partially evolves in DMSO and in DMSO/CHxCl4-x (X = 1, 2) mixtures, giving HPyTSC and SnMe2(OAc)2. [SnMe2 (PyTSC)(OAc)].HOAc, [SnMe2(DAPTSC)], and [SnPh2(DAPTSC)].2DMF (H2DAPTSC = 2,6-diacetylpyridine bis(thiosemicarbazone)) all suppress proliferation of Friend erythroleukaemia cells (FLC). DMSO-induced differentiation of FLC is slightly suppressed by [SnMe2(DAPTSC)] and is unaffected by [SnPh2(DAPTSC)].2DMF and [SnMe2(PyTSC)(OAc)].HOAc.