Publication in RSC Advances

The publication entitled “Copper(II) quinolinonato-7-carboxamido complexes as potent antitumor agents with broad spectra and selective effects” (authors: R. Křikavová, J. Vančo, Z. Trávníček, R. Buchtík, Z. Dvořák) was published in RSC Advances journal (IF₂₀₁₄ = 3.84). The work describes copper(II) mixed-ligand complexes [Cu(qui^x)(phen)]NO₃yH₂O, where Hqui^x stands for 2-(4-amino-3,5-dichlorophenyl)-3-hydroxy-4(1H)-quinolinone-7-carboxamides, phen = 1,10-phenanthroline, and their in vitro antitumor activity on six human cancer cell lines; with the best results for complex 5 against A2780, with IC₅₀ = 0.6(1) μM. Complex 5 was also found non-toxic up to 50 μM against non-malignant lung fibroblast cells (MRC-5); therefore, showing a promising selectivity index IC₅₀(MRC-5)/IC₅₀(A2780) higher than 80. The complexes were also shown to bind to calf thymus DNA, interact with physiological levels of L-cysteine and act as chemical nucleases.