Pharmaceuticals (Jun 2022)

The Synthesis, Characterization, Molecular Docking and In Vitro Antitumor Activity of Benzothiazole Aniline (BTA) Conjugated Metal-Salen Complexes as Non-Platinum Chemotherapeutic Agents

  • Md. Kamrul Islam,
  • Seongmin Ha,
  • Ah-Rum Baek,
  • Byeong-Woo Yang,
  • Yeoun-Hee Kim,
  • Hyun-Jin Park,
  • Minsup Kim,
  • Sung-Wook Nam,
  • Gang-Ho Lee,
  • Yongmin Chang

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/ph15060751
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15, no. 6
p. 751

Abstract

Read online

Here, we describe the synthesis, characterization, and in vitro biological evaluation of a series of transition metal complexes containing benzothiazole aniline (BTA). We employed BTA, which is known for its selective anticancer activity, and a salen-type Schiff-based ligand to coordinate several transition metals to achieve selective and synergistic cytotoxicity. The compounds obtained were characterized by NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and elemental analysis. The compounds L, MnL, FeL, CoL, and ZnL showed promising in vitro cytotoxicity against cancer cells, and they had a lower IC50 than that of the clinically used cisplatin. In particular, MnL had synergistic cytotoxicity against liver, breast, and colon cancer cells. Moreover, MnL, CoL, and CuL promoted the production of reactive oxygen species in HepG2 tumor cell lines. The lead compound of this series, MnL, remained stable in physiological settings, and docking results showed that it interacted rationally with the minor groove of DNA. Therefore, MnL may serve as a viable alternative to platinum-based chemotherapy.

Keywords