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CORM-3 induces DNA damage through Ru(II) binding to DNA

Yes / When the 'CO-releasing molecule-3', CORM-3 (Ru(CO)3Cl(glycinate)), is dissolved in water it forms a range of ruthenium complexes. These are taken up by cells and bind to intracellular ligands, notably thiols such as cysteine and glutathione, where the Ru(II) reaches high intracellular concentrations. Here, we show that the Ru(II) ion also binds to DNA, at exposed guanosine N7 positions. It therefore has a similar cellular target to the anticancer drug cisplatin, but not identical, because Ru(II) shows no evidence of forming intramolecular crossbridges in the DNA. The reaction is slow, and with excess Ru, intermolecular DNA crossbridges are formed. The addition of CORM-3 to human colorectal cancer cells leads to strand breaks in the DNA, as assessed by the alkaline comet assay. DNA damage is inhibited by growth media containing amino acids, which bind to extracellular Ru and prevent its entry into cells. We conclude that the cytotoxicity of Ru(II) is different from that of platinum, making it a promising development target for cancer therapeutics.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/19674
Date01 November 2023
CreatorsLyon, R.F., Southam, H.M., Trevitt, C.R., Liao, C., El-Khamisy, Sherif, Poole, R.K., Williamson, M.P.
Source SetsBradford Scholars
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeArticle, Published version
Rights(c) 2022 The Authors. This is an Open Access article distributed under the Creative Commons CC-BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), CC-BY

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