The cobalt(II), copper(II) and zinc(II) complexes of 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) and maltol (mal) (complexes 1, 2, 3 respectively) were prepared from their respective metal(II) chlorides and were characterized by FT-IR, elemental analysis, UV spectroscopy, molar conductivity, p-nitrosodimethylaniline assay and mass spectrometry. The X-ray structure of a single crystal of the zinc(II) analogue reveals a square pyramidal structure with distinctly shorter apical chloride bond. All complexes were evaluated for their anticancer property on breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231, and normal cell line MCF-10A, using (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay and morphological studies. Complex 2 was most potent for 24, 48 and 72 h treatment of cancer cells but it was not selective towards cancer over normal cells. The mechanistic studies of the cobalt(II) complex 1 involved apoptosis assay, cell cycle analysis, dichloro-dihydro-fluorescein diacetate assay, intracellular reactive oxygen species assay and proteasome inhibition assay. Complex 1 induced low apoptosis, generated low level of ROS and did not inhibit proteasome in normal cells. The study of the DNA binding and nucleolytic properties of complexes 1-3 in the absence or presence of H2O2 or sodium ascorbate revealed that only complex 1 was not nucleolytic.
Smoking and smokeless tobacco consumption is a significant risk factor that provokes genetic alterations. The present investigation was to evaluate the biomarkers of genotoxicity including micronucleus (MN), chromosome aberrations (CA) and DNA strand breaks among tobacco consumers and control individuals residing in hilly areas of Western Ghats, Tamilnadu, South India. This study included 268 tobacco consumers with equal number of controls. The tobacco consumers were divided into Group I (<10 years of tobacco consumption with an age range from 15 to 35 years) and group II (>10 years consumption above 35 years of age). Chromosome aberration (CA) and comet assay were performed using blood and micronucleus assay from exfoliated buccal epithelial cells obtained from tobacco consumers and controls. Elevated levels of CA were found in group II (Chromatid type: 2.39 ± 1.13 and chromosome type: 1.44 ± 1.24) exposed subjects, high micronucleus and DNA damage (TL:4.48 ± 1.24 and TM:3.40 ± 1.58) levels were significantly (p
The Fau gene (Finkel-Biskis-Reilly murine sarcoma virus (FBR-MuSV)-associated ubiquitously expressed gene) was identified as a potential tumor suppressor gene using a forward genetics approach. Downregulation of Fau by overexpression of its reverse sequence has been shown to inhibit apoptosis induced by DNA-damaging agents. To address a potential role of Fau in benzene toxicity, we investigated the apoptotic effects of hydroquinone (HQ), a major benzene metabolite, in W7.2 mouse thymoma cells transfected with either a plasmid construct expressing the antisense sequence of Fau (rfau) or the empty vector (pcDNA3.1) as a control. HQ induced apoptosis via increased production of reactive oxygen species and DNA damage, measured using dihydroethidine (HE) staining and alkaline Comet assay, respectively, in W7.2 pcDNA3.1 cells. In contrast, when Fau was downregulated by the antisense sequence in W7.2 rfau cells, HQ treatment did not cause DNA damage and oxidative stress and these cells were markedly more resistant to HQ-induced apoptosis. Further investigation revealed that there was an upregulation of NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1), a detoxification enzyme for benzene-derived quinones, in W7.2 rfau cells. Compromising cellular NQO1 by use of a specific mechanism-based inhibitor (MAC 220) and NQO1 siRNA resensitized W7.2 rfau cells to HQ-induced apoptosis. Silencing of Fau in W7.2 wild-type cells resulted in increased levels of NQO1, confirming that downregulation of Fau results in NQO1 upregulation which protects against HQ-induced apoptosis.
Metformin, an AMPK activator, has been reported to improve pathological response to chemotherapy in diabetic breast cancer patients. To date, its mechanism of action in cancer, especially in cancer stem cells (CSCs) have not been fully elucidated. In this study, we demonstrated that metformin, but not other AMPK activators (e.g. AICAR and A-769662), synergizes 5-fluouracil, epirubicin, and cyclophosphamide (FEC) combination chemotherapy in non-stem breast cancer cells and breast cancer stem cells. We show that this occurs through an AMPK-dependent mechanism in parental breast cancer cell lines. In contrast, the synergistic effects of metformin and FEC occurred in an AMPK-independent mechanism in breast CSCs. Further analyses revealed that metformin accelerated glucose consumption and lactate production more severely in the breast CSCs but the production of intracellular ATP was severely hampered, leading to a severe energy crisis and impairs the ability of CSCs to repair FEC-induced DNA damage. Indeed, addition of extracellular ATP completely abrogated the synergistic effects of metformin on FEC sensitivity in breast CSCs. In conclusion, our results suggest that metformin synergizes FEC sensitivity through distinct mechanism in parental breast cancer cell lines and CSCs, thus providing further evidence for the clinical relevance of metformin for the treatment of cancers.
Ruthenium(II) polypyridyl complexes can intercalate DNA with high affinity and prevent cell proliferation; however, the direct impact of ruthenium-based intercalation on cellular DNA replication remains unknown. Here we show the multi-intercalator [Ru(dppz)2(PIP)](2+) (dppz = dipyridophenazine, PIP = 2-(phenyl)imidazo[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthroline) immediately stalls replication fork progression in HeLa human cervical cancer cells. In response to this replication blockade, the DNA damage response (DDR) cell signalling network is activated, with checkpoint kinase 1 (Chk1) activation indicating prolonged replication-associated DNA damage, and cell proliferation is inhibited by G1-S cell-cycle arrest. Co-incubation with a Chk1 inhibitor achieves synergistic apoptosis in cancer cells, with a significant increase in phospho(Ser139) histone H2AX (γ-H2AX) levels and foci indicating increased conversion of stalled replication forks to double-strand breaks (DSBs). Normal human epithelial cells remain unaffected by this concurrent treatment. Furthermore, pre-treatment of HeLa cells with [Ru(dppz)2(PIP)](2+) before external beam ionising radiation results in a supra-additive decrease in cell survival accompanied by increased γ-H2AX expression, indicating the compound functions as a radiosensitizer. Together, these results indicate ruthenium-based intercalation can block replication fork progression and demonstrate how these DNA-binding agents may be combined with DDR inhibitors or ionising radiation to achieve more efficient cancer cell killing.
Cell growth and proliferative activities on titania nanotube arrays (TNA) have raised alerts on genotoxicity risk. Present toxicogenomic approach focused on epithelial HT29 cells with TNA surface. Fledgling cell-TNA interaction has triggered G0/G1 cell cycle arrests and initiates DNA damage surveillance checkpoint, which possibly indicated the cellular stress stimuli. A profound gene regulation was observed to be involved in cellular growth and survival signals such as p53 and AKT expressions. Interestingly, the activation of redox regulator pathways (antioxidant defense) was observed through the cascade interactions of GADD45, MYC, CHECK1, and ATR genes. These mechanisms furnish to protect DNA during cellular division from an oxidative challenge, set in motion with XRRC5 and RAD50 genes for DNA damage and repair activities. The cell fate decision on TNA-nanoenvironment has been reported to possibly regulate proliferative activities via expression of p27 and BCL2 tumor suppressor proteins, cogent with SKP2 and BCL2 oncogenic proteins suppression. Findings suggested that epithelial HT29 cells on the surface of TNA may have a positive regulation via cell-homeostasis mechanisms: a careful circadian orchestration between cell proliferation, survival, and death. This nanomolecular knowledge could be beneficial for advanced medical applications such as in nanomedicine and nanotherapeutics.