Photocytotoxic and anaerobic DNA cleavage activity of binuclear 3,3′-dithiodipropionic acid cobalt(II) complexes having phenanthroline bases

Dicobalt(II) complexes [{(B)Co^II}₂(μ-dtdp)₂] (1–3) of 3,3′-dithiodipropionic acid (dtdp) and phenanthroline bases (B), viz. 1,10-phenanthroline (phen in 1), dipyrido[3,2-d:2′,3′-f]quinoxaline (dpq in 2) and dipyrido[3,2-a:2′,3′-c]phenazine (dppz in 3), have been prepared, characterized and their photo-induced anaerobic DNA cleavage activity studied. The elemental analysis and mass spectral data suggest binuclear formulation of the complexes. The redox inactive complexes have magnetically non-interacting dicobalt(II) core showing magnetic moment of ∼3.9 μ_B per cobalt(II) center. The complexes show good binding propensity to calf thymus DNA giving K_b values within 4.3 × 10⁵–4.0 × 10⁶ M⁻¹. Thermal melting and viscosity data predict DNA groove binding and/or partial intercalative nature of the complexes. The complexes show significant anaerobic DNA cleavage activity in green light under argon atmosphere possibly involving radical species generated from the disulfide moiety in a type-I pathway. The DNA cleavage reaction under aerobic medium in green light is found to involve hydroxyl radical species. The dppz complex 3 exhibits significant photocytotoxicity in HeLa cervical cancer cells with an IC₅₀ value of 2.3 μM in UV-A light of 365 nm, while it is essentially non-toxic in dark giving an IC₅₀ value of >200 μM. A significant reduction of the dark toxicity of the organic dppz base (IC₅₀ = 8.3 μM in dark) is observed on binding to the cobalt(II) center while essentially retaining its photocytotoxicity in UV-A light (IC₅₀ = 0.4 μM).     

Production of monoclonal antibodies against hop-derived (Humulus lupulus L.) prenylflavonoids and the development of immunoassays

Monoclonal antibodies against the hop-derived prenylated chalcone xanthohumol (X) and the prenylated flavonoids isoxanthohumol (IX) and 8-prenylnaringenin (8-PN) were developed. Carboxylic acid haptens of X, IX and 8-PN were synthesized by linking a spacer to their C4′-OH group followed by subsequent coupling to bovine serum albumin (BSA) to form conjugates that were employed as immunogens in BALB/c mice to raise antibodies. The monoclonal antibodies that were secreted from the established hybridoma cell lines proved, in cross-reactivity studies, to possess highly specific binding capacities in an optimized competitive indirect ELISA. The immunoassays make use of immunogen-coated microtiterplates and a peroxidase-labeled anti-mouse IgG₁ secondary antibody with ABTS as a chromogenic substrate. For X the IC₅₀ value derived from the standard curve was 62.91 ng mL⁻¹, and for both IX and 8-PN 37.15 ng mL⁻¹. The assay was validated for the quantitative analysis of X, IX and 8-PN in urine and serum. A simple sample pretreatment procedure using a diethyl ether extraction was optimized and the recoveries and matrix effects were assessed. The validity of the established assay was tested and mean inter- and intra-assay variations in urine were 2.32% and 1.91%, respectively for X, 6.24% and 2.39%, respectively for IX and 7.18% and 0.74%, respectively for 8-PN. In serum, the mean inter- and intra-assay variations were 8.90% and 1.37%, respectively for X, 6.13% and 1.57%, respectively for IX and 6.13% and 2.43%, respectively for 8-PN. Furthermore, the method demonstrated excellent accuracy and significant correlation with measurements by an established and validated HPLC-MS method.