Triggered by the resounding success of cisplatin, the past decades have seen tremendous efforts to produce clinically beneficial analogues. The recent achievement of oxaliplatin for the treatment of colon cancer should, however, not belie the imbalance between a plethora of investigated complexes and a very small number of clinically approved platinum drugs. Strategies opening up new avenues are increasingly being sought using complexes of metals other than platinum such as ruthenium or gallium. Based on the chemical differences between these metals, the spectrum of molecular mechanisms of action and potential indications can be broadened substantially. Other approaches focus on complexes with tumour-targeting properties, thereby maximizing the impact on cancer cells and minimizing the problem of adverse side effects, and complexes with biologically active ligands.

Antitumour metal compounds: more than theme and variations

In the present study, we focused on a quick and green method to fabricate Ag, Au and Ag/Au alloy nanoparticles (NPs) using the bark extract of Guazuma ulmifolia L. Green synthesized metal NPs were characterized using different techniques, including UV-Vis spectroscopy, FT-IR, XRD, AFM and HR-TEM analyses. The production of Ag, Au and Ag/Au alloy NPs was observed monitoring color change from colorless to brown, followed by pink and dark brown, as confirmed by UV-Vis spectroscopy characteristic peaks at 436, 522 and 510nm, respectively. TEM shed light on the spherical shapes of NPs with size ranges of 10-15, 20-25 and 10-20nm. Biosynthesized NPs showed good catalytic activity reducing two organic dyes, 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) and Congo red (CR). UV-vis spectroscopy, fluorescence, circular dichroism spectroscopy and viscosity analyses were used to investigate the NP binding with calf thymus DNA. The binding constant of NPs with DNA calculated in UV-Vis absorption studies were 1.18×104, 1.83×104 and 2.91×104M-1, respectively, indicating that NPs were able to bind DNA with variable binding affinity: Ag/Au alloy NPs>Ag NPs>Au NPs. Ag/Au alloy NPs also showed binding activity to bovine serum albumin (BSA) over the other NPs. Ag and Ag/Au alloy NPs exhibited good antimicrobial activity on 14 species of microbial pathogens. In addition, the cytotoxic effects of Ag/Au alloy NPs were studied on human cervical cancer cells (HeLa) using MTT assay. Overall, our work showed the promising potential of bark-synthesized Ag and Ag/Au alloy NPs as cheap sources to develop novel and safer photocatalytic, antimicrobial and anticancer agents.

Guazuma ulmifolia bark-synthesized Ag, Au and Ag/Au alloy nanoparticles: Photocatalytic potential, DNA/protein interactions, anticancer activity and toxicity against 14 species of microbial pathogens.

Organotin(IV) complexes derived from Schiff base N'-[(1E)-(2-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)methylidene]pyridine-4-carbohydrazone: synthesis, in vitro cytotoxicities and DNA/BSA interaction.

Anti-proliferative and antitumor activity of organotin(IV) compounds. An overview of the last decade and future perspectives.

Organotin(IV) complexes derived from hydrazone Schiff base: Synthesis, crystal structure, in vitro cytotoxicity and DNA/BSA interactions

Synthesis, structural characterization, in vitro cytotoxicities, DNA-binding and BSA interaction of diorganotin (IV) complexes derived from hydrazone Schiff base

Four new organoantimony carboxylates, (R–COO)2SbR′3 [R–COOH = (±)-2-phenoxypropionic acid and R′ = phenyl (1), 4-fluorophenyl (2), 3-fluorophenyl (3), 3,4,5-trifluorophenyl (4)], were synthesized and structurally characterized by elemental analysis, 1H, 13C NMR, IR and X-ray single crystal diffraction. Structural analyses reveal that 1–3 show similar five-coordinate trigonal bipyramidal geometries, binding with three aryl groups and two deprotonated unidentate ligands. Unexpectedly, 4 exhibits pentagonal bipyramidal arrangement accompanied by two Sb–O (carbonyl) coordination bonds. In vitro cytotoxic activities of 1–4 have been determined by the MTT method against four cancer cell lines. Studies reveal that 1–4 have an activity similar to cisplatin on lung cancer cell line A549 and but also exhibit excellent cytotoxicity against cisplatin-insensitive colon cancer cell lines HCT-116, Caco-2 and human promyelocytic leukemia cell line HL-60. Additionally, the results showed that most of these triarylantimony...

Honglin Geng

Papers

Organotin(IV) complexes derived from Schiff base N'-[(1E)-(2-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)methylidene]pyridine-4-carbohydrazone: synthesis, in vitro cytotoxicities and DNA/BSA interaction.

Synthesis, structural characterization, in vitro cytotoxicities, DNA-binding and BSA interaction of diorganotin (IV) complexes derived from hydrazone Schiff base

Four triarylantimony(V) carboxylates: syntheses, structural characterization and in vitro cytotoxicities