Synthesis, cytotoxicity, apoptosis and cell cycle arrest of a monoruthenium(II)-substituted Dawson polyoxotungstate

Abstract

By 5-h reaction of cis-[Ru^IICl₂(DMSO)₄] (M2) with K₁₀[α₂-P₂W₁₇O₆₁] (M3) in ice-cooled, HCl-acidic aqueous solution, a water-soluble 1:2-type diamagnetic ruthenium(II) complex of formula K₁₈[Ru^II(DMSO)₂(P₂W₁₇O₆₁)₂]·35H₂O (M1) was unexpectedly obtained as an analytically pure, homogeneous tan-colored solid, in which two DMSO ligands are coordinated to the ruthenium(II) atom. The cytotoxic potential of the complex was tested on C33A, DLD-1, and HepG-2 cancer cells and human normal embryonic lung fibroblasts cell MRC-5; the viability of the treated cells was evaluated by MTT assay. The mode of cell death was assessed by morphological study of DNA damage and apoptosis assays. Compound M1 induced cell death in a dose-dependent manner, and the mode of cell death was essentially apoptosis though necrosis was also noticed. Cell cycle analysis by flow cytometry indicated that M1 caused cell cycle arrest and accumulated cells in S phase.

Keywords:

• Polyoxometalates
• Ru(II) complex
• cytotoxicity
• cell apoptosis
• cell cycle arrest

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21701120), the Natural Science Fund of Shanxi Province (No. 201601D202024) and Doctor Fund of Taiyuan University of Science and Technology (No. 20172005).