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Lighting Up the Pathways to Caspase Activation Using Bimolecular Fluorescence Complementation
Published on: March 5, 2018
Caspase-3 mediated programmed cell death by a gold-stabilised peptide carbene
Astha Gupta1, Shivansh Nigam2, Ilesha Avasthi3
1Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, India.
Abstract:
The synthesis of novel N-heterocyclic carbene complexes derived from a tripeptide ligand (L), containing non-natural amino acid, thiazolylalanine is described here. The peptide ligand was reacted with suitable precursors to generate gold and mercury carbene complexes. The plausible structures of both complexes were predicted by spectroscopic data and DFT calculations. The binding energy data was also analyzed to predict their stability. The gold carbene complex (1A), showed activity against MCF7 breast cancer cell line due to mitochondrial triggered caspase-3 mediated programmed cell death. Its internalization inside cells could be observed due to autofluorescence. This study affords a methodology for successful generation of peptide carbene complexes for their therapeutic potential.
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