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Updated: May 31, 2026

Anticancer Metal Complexes: Synthesis and Cytotoxicity Evaluation by the MTT Assay
Published on: November 10, 2013
[Acridines as antitumor drugs]
Anita Dopierała1, Patrycja Wrosz, Jan Mazerski
1Katedra Technologii Leków i Biochemii, Wydział Chemiczny, Politechnika Gdańska. anita_dopierala@wp.pl
Abstract:
Acridines belong to a group of polycyclic heteroaromatic compounds and exhibit a broad spectrum of biological activity including antiprotozoal, antibacterial, antiviral and antitumor activity. Acridine derivatives with antitumor activity have different mechanisms of action at the molecular level. The data obtained so far indicate that one of the main steps is the formation of physico-chemical complexes with DNA. Among acridine derivatives with anticancer activity we can distinguish five main classes of compounds: nitroacridines, 9-anilinoacridines, pyrazoloacridines, imidazoacridines, and triazoloacridines. Compounds from different classes differ both in mechanism of action and spectrum of antitumor activity.
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