Oxoglaucine-lanthanide complexes: synthesis, crystal structure and cytotoxicity

Area of Science:

• Inorganic Chemistry
• Medicinal Chemistry
• Materials Science

Background:

• Oxoglaucine (OG) is a natural compound with potential biological activities.
• Lanthanide complexes are explored for their diverse applications, including in medicine.
• Developing novel anticancer agents is a critical area of pharmaceutical research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize and characterize novel oxoglaucine-lanthanide complexes.
• To evaluate the in vitro cytotoxicity of these complexes against human cancer cell lines.
• To compare the efficacy of the complexes with the parent oxoglaucine and lanthanide salts.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of three oxoglaucine-lanthanide complexes: [Sm(OG)2(NO3)3]•H2O (1), [Eu(OG)2(NO3)3]•1.5CH3OH (2), and [Er(OG)2(NO3)3]•H2O (3).
• Structural determination of complexes 1-3 using single-crystal X-ray diffraction.
• In vitro cytotoxicity assessment using the MTT assay against five human cancer cell lines.

Main Results:

• Complexes 1-3 possess similar mononuclear structures.
• The 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC50) varied among complexes and cell lines.
• Complex 2 showed potent activity against MCF-7 cells (3.2 μM), and complex 3 against HeLa and MCF-7 cells (8.3 μM and 1.4 μM, respectively).

Conclusions:

• The synthesized oxoglaucine-lanthanide complexes exhibit significant in vitro cytotoxicity.
• These complexes demonstrate enhanced anticancer potential compared to oxoglaucine and lanthanide salts.
• The study highlights the promise of lanthanide-OG complexes as novel anticancer agents.