Photocytotoxicity and G-quadruplex DNA interaction of water-soluble gallium(III) tris( N-methyl-4-pyridyl)corrole complex.

A water-soluble cationic gallium corrole, 5,10,15-tris( N-methyl-4-pyridyl)corrolatogallium(III) ( 3), was prepared and characterized. The photocytotoxicity of 3 was investigated using Hep G2 cancer cell line. Upon treatment with corrole 3 and irradiation, of tumor cell nuclei was observed, which led to apoptosis. Flow cytometric analysis clearly showed the efficient induction of apoptotic cell death, and corrole 3 exhibited high photocytotoxicity towards Hep G2 cancer cells (IC₅₀ = 60 nM). Furthermore, the binding behavior of corrole 3 with c-MYC G-quadruplex DNA, a potent target for antitumor drugs, was investigated using spectroscopic methods and molecular docking simulation. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]