Photocytotoxicity and G‐quadruplex DNA interaction of water‐soluble gallium(III) tris(<i>N</i>‐methyl‐4‐pyridyl)corrole complex

Abstract

A water‐soluble cationic gallium corrole, 5,10,15‐tris( N ‐methyl‐4‐pyridyl)corrolatogallium(III) ( 3 ), was prepared and characterized. The photocytotoxicity of 3 was investigated using Hep G2 cancer cell line. Upon treatment with corrole 3 and irradiation, fragmentation of tumor cell nuclei was observed, which led to apoptosis. Flow cytometric analysis clearly showed the efficient induction of apoptotic cell death, and corrole 3 exhibited high photocytotoxicity towards Hep G2 cancer cells (IC 50 = 60 nM). Furthermore, the binding behavior of corrole 3 with c‐MYC G‐quadruplex DNA, a potent target for antitumor drugs, was investigated using spectroscopic methods and molecular docking simulation. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.