Cytotoxicity of cobalt complexes of furan oximes in murine and human tissue‐cultured cell lines

The copper complexes of 2‐furaldehyde and furan oximes have previously demonstrated potent cytotoxicity, L1210 DNA synthesis inhibition, DNA topoisomerase II inhibition and DNA fragmentation. Currently a series of cobalt metal complexes of 2‐furaldehyde oximes were compared with copper complexes of furan oximes to determine whether the type of metal is important to the cytotoxicity and mode of action of the complexes. The cobalt complexes of furan oximes, like the copper complexes, were shown to be cytotoxic to suspended tumor cell lines, e.g. leukemias, lymphomas, acute monocytic leukemia and HeLa‐S³ uterine carcinoma. The cobalt complexes did not demonstrate dramatic cytotoxicity against the growth of tumors derived from solid human tumor lines. The cobalt complexes preferentially inhibited L1210 DNA synthesis, followed by inhibition of RNA and protein synthesis from 25 to 100 µM over 60 min. These agents, like the copper complexes of 2‐furaldehyde and furan oximes, were inhibitors of DNA polymerase α activity and de novo purine synthesis with marginal inhibition of ribonucleoside reductase and dihydrofolate reductase activities with DNA fragmentation. Unlike the copper complexes, the cobalt complexes did not inhibit L1210 DNA topoisomerase II activity but did reduce thymidylate synthetase activity. Thus, varying the type of metal within the complexes of 2‐furaldehyde and furan oximes produces differences in both cytotoxicity and mode of action. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECTS FROM CHLOROPHYLL a IN BILAYER MEMBRANES

Abstract— The photophysical and photochemical properties of thiophene derivatives have been studied by fluorescence and by 353 nm laser flash spectroscopy. α-Terthienyl and its derivatives show a moderate fluorescence quantum yield (less than 0.1) in cyclohexane, ethanol, or TritonX–100 micelles. An additional thiophene ring increases this value to 0.2 in ethanol or micelles. The transient triplet state of the six thiophenes is characterized by strong absorptions (ε⋍ 50000 M ^-1 cm^-1) in the visible region. These triplet states are very long lived. They react with oxygen, producing singlet oxygen very efficiently because of their high quantum yield of triplet formation (0.1 to 0.3). They do not react with excellent hydrogen or electron donors such as indole, N-acetyl tryptophanamide or cysteine. The hydrophobic thiophenes investigated are, therefore, Type II photodynamic agents almost exclusively.     

1D Coordination Polymers from Zinc(II) and Cadmium(II) Halides and 2,2′‐Dithiobis(pyridine N‐oxide): Isostructurality and Structural Diversity

Group 12 halides and 2,2′‐dithiobis(pyridine N‐oxide) (dtpo) form the crystalline the 1D coordination polymers [ZnX₂(μ‐dtpo‐κ²O:O′)]_n [X = Cl ( 1 ), Br ( 2 ), I ( 3 )], [Cd₃(μ‐Cl)₄Cl₂(μ‐dtpo‐κ²O:O′)₂(CH₃OH)₂]_n ( 4 ), [(CdBr₂)₂(μ₃‐dtpo‐κ³O,O:O′)₂(H₂O)₂]_n ( 5 ), and [(CdI₂)₂(μ‐dtpo‐κ²O:O′)₃]_n ( 6 ) in methanol. The compounds were structurally characterized by single‐crystal X‐ray analysis. Compounds 1 – 3 represent an isomorphous series of single‐stranded coordination polymers, whereas the Cd^II derivatives are structurally diverse. The metal nodes in 4 and 5 are trinuclear and dinuclear cadmium clusters, respectively. In 4 and 5 , the metal nodes are linked into double‐stranded 1D coordination polymers by two dtpo bridging ligands. Compound 6 contains mononuclear CdI₂ units as nodes and can be viewed as an alternating copolymer of CdI₂(μ‐dtpo‐κ²O:O′)₂ and CdI₂(μ‐dtpo‐κ²O:O′) entities. Owing to the disulfide moiety, the dtpo bridging ligand inevitably exhibits an axially chiral angular structure. The dtpo ligand adopts various coordination modes through the pyridine N‐oxide oxygen atoms.     

Degradable Cationic Nanohydrogel Particles for Stimuli‐Responsive Release of siRNA

Well‐defined nanogels have become quite attractive as safe and stable carriers for siRNA delivery. However, to avoid nanoparticle accumulation, they need to provide a stimuli‐responsive degradation mechanism that can be activated at the payload's site of action. In this work, the synthetic concept for generating well‐defined nanohydrogel particles is extended to incorporate disulfide cross‐linkers into a cationic nanonetwork for redox‐triggered release of oligonucleotide payload as well as nanoparticle degradation under reductive conditions of the cytoplasm. Therefore, a novel disulfide‐modified spermine cross‐linker is designed that both allows disassembly of the nanogel as well as removal of cationic charge from residual polymer fragments. The degradation process is monitored by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS). Moreover, siRNA release is analyzed by agarose gel electrophoresis and a fluorescent RNA detection assay. The results exemplify the versatility of the applied nanogel manufacturing process, which allows alternative stimuli‐responsive core cross‐linkers to be integrated for triggered oligonucleotide release as well as effective biodegradation for reduced nanotoxicity.