Synthesis, crystal structure, cytotoxicity, in-detail experimental and computational CT-DNA interaction studies of 2-picolinate Pd(II) and Pt(II) complexes

Abstract

A new Pd(II) complex of formula [Pd(en)(2-pyc)]⁺ (where, en is ethylenediamine and 2-pyc is 2-pyridinecarboxylate anion) and its reported Pt(II) analogue, i.e. [Pt(en)(2-pyc)]⁺ have been made by an improved synthetic procedure, yielding above 80%. They have been characterized by FT-IR, UV-Vis, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, conductivity and elemental analysis. Single crystal structural determination of [Pt(en)(2-pyc)]⁺ displayed that the Pt(II) cation in this complex coordinated by 2-pyc and en each as five member chelate resulting in slightly distorted square-planar array. The time-dependent spectroscopic analysis of these compounds in aqueous medium demonstrated their structural stabilities. The cytotoxic activities of Pd(II) and Pt(II) complexes, free 2-pyc and carboplatin (as standard drug) were assayed in-vitro against the HCT-116 and MCF-7 as cancerous and MCF 10 A and CCD-841 as normal cell lines. They showed the IC₅₀ order of: carboplatin > 2-pyc > Pt(II) > Pd(II) and lower activities against non-cancerous cells. CT-DNA binding of the Pd(II), Pt(II) and 2-pyc free ligand were explored individually. In this relation, UV-Vis and fluorescence titrations disclosed quenching of CT-DNA absorption and emissions by the compounds via dynamic mechanism and formation of H-bonds and van der Waals forces between them. The interaction was further validated and verified by viscosity measurements and gel electrophoresis. Partition coefficient determination showed that all three compounds have more lipophilicity than cisplatin. Furthermore, docking analysis and molecular dynamics simulation were done to evaluate the nature of interaction between aforementioned compounds and CT-DNA. The finding results demonstrated that these agents interact with CT-DNA via groove binding and were in agreement with experimental results.

Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma

Keywords:

• Pd(II) and Pt(II) complexes
• cytotoxicity
• DNA interaction
• molecular docking
• molecular dynamics

Acknowledgement

The authors gratefully acknowledge the University of Sistan and Baluchestan for providing support and also acknowledge using the CzechNanoLab Research Infrastructure supported by MEYS CR LM2018110) for crystallographic analysis.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.