Metal complexes of salicylhydroxamic acid and 1,10-phen-anthroline; equilibrium and antimicrobial activity studies

Salicylhydroxamic acid and its binary and ternary copper(II), nickel(II), and iron(III) complexes involving 1,10-phenanthroline were studied pH-potentiometrically in 0.15 mol.L-1 NaNO3 aqueous solutions at 37 oC. The protonation constants of salicylhydroxamic acid and 1,10-phenanthroline as well their binary and mixed ligand complex species stability constants were determined based on 3 estimation models (Irving Rossetti, Bjerrum-Calvin and Hyperquad 2008). Also, six solid complexes were synthesized and their biological activities were evaluated against some pathogenic bacteria and fungi organisms. KEY WORDS: Salicylhydroxamic acid, 1,10-Phenanthroline, Potentiometry, Antifungal and antibacterial activities Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2014, 28(3), 393-402.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v28i3.

Raman spectra of copper, cobalt, and nickel complexes of nicotinic acid: Equilibrium studies

This article summarizes the protonation and complexation equilibrium constants of nicotinic acid (NA) using different analytical techniques and software’s. Additionally, Raman, IR, and NMR spectra were done for nicotinic acid ligand and for its solid complexes with copper(II), cobalt(II) and nickel(II) metal ions.               KEY WORDS: Nicotinic acid, Potentiometry, Spectrometry, Equilibrium constants Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2018, 32(3), 459-467.DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v32i3.

In vitro evaluation of electroporated gold nanoparticles and extremely-low frequency electromagnetic field anticancer activity against Hep-2 laryngeal cancer cells

Introduction. The extremely-low frequency electromagnetic field (ELFEMF) has been proposed for use in cancer therapy since it was found that magnetic waves interfere with many biological processes. Gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) have been widely used for drug delivery during cancer in vitro studies due to their low cytotoxity and high biocompatibility. The electroporation of cancer cells in a presence of Au-NPs (EP Au-NPs) can induce cell apoptosis, alterations of cell cycle profile and morphological changes. The impact of ELFEMF and EP Au-NPs on morphology, cell cycle and activation of apoptosis-associated genes on Hep-2 laryngeal cancer cell line has not been studied yet. Materials and methods. ELFEMF on Hep-2 cells were carried out using four different conditions: 25/50 mT at 15/30 min, while Au-NPs were used as direct contact (DC) or with electroporation (EP, 10 pulses at 200V, equal time intervals of 4 sec). MTT assay was used to check the toxicity of DC Au-NPs. Expression of CASP3, P53, BAX and BCL2 genes was quantified using qPCR. Cell cycle was analyzed by flow cytometry. Hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining was used to observe cell morphology. Results. Calculated IC50 of DC Au-NPs 24.36 μM (4.79 μg/ml) and such concentration was used for further DC and EP AuNPs experiments. The up-regulation of pro-apoptotic genes (CASP3, P53, BAX) and decreased expression of BCL2, respectively, was observed for all analyzed conditions with the highest differences for EP AuNPs and ELFEMF 50 mT/30 min in comparison to control cells. The highest content of cells arrested in G2/M phase was observed in ELFEMF-treated cells for 30 min both at 25 or 50 mT, while the cells treated with EP AuNPs or ELFEMF 50 mT/15 min showed highest ratios of apoptotic cells. HE staining of electroporated cells and cells exposed to ELFEMF’s low and higher frequencies for different times showed nuclear pleomorphic cells. Numerous apoptotic bodies were observed in the irregular cell membrane of neoplastic and necrotic cells with mixed euchromatin and heterochromatin. Conclusions. Our observations indicate that treatment of Hep-2 laryngeal cancer cells with ELFEMF for 30 min at 25–50 mT and EP Au-NPs can cause cell damage inducing apoptosis and cell cycle arrest

Bioactivities of holmium(III) and gadolinium(III) complexes of thymoquinone

Chemotherapeutic agents which are the main stay in cancer treatment are toxic with numerous contrary side effects. A number of chemical, physical, and computational techniques were applied to synthesize and elucidate the structural and functional characterization of the new designed bioligands and their metal complexes. Besides, several biological techniques for developing therapeutics and diagnostics agents of these new designed materials were used. The trivalent holmium(III) and gadolinium(III) metal complexes of thymoquinone (TQ) were synthesized. Toxicities and other bioactivites were undertaken with existing drug combinations and more effective tumor models will be established. The molecular structures of TQ-metal complexes were elucidated based on particular spectral approaches. The NF-kB (nuclear factor kappa-light-chain enhancer of activated B Cells) luciferase, elastase release, superoxide anion (O2•−) generation, and DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl) free-radical scavenging activities of TQ and its synthesized complexes were elucidated and discussed. The core research is to use coordination and organometallic chemistry to design new bioligands and binary, ternary, mixed ligand, multi metal multi ligand complexes pursing a bio target continuously with structure-activity relationships (SARS).                     KEY WORDS: Thymoquinone, Holmium, Gadolinium, Bioactivities   Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2021, 35(1), 87-96. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v35i1.

Common and Distant Structural Characteristics of Feruloyl Esterase Families from Aspergillus oryzae

Background: Feruloyl esterases (FAEs) are important biomass degrading accessory enzymes due to their capability of cleaving the ester links between hemicellulose and pectin to aromatic compounds of lignin, thus enhancing the accessibility of plant tissues to cellulolytic and hemicellulolytic enzymes. FAEs have gained increased attention in the area of biocatalytic transformations for the synthesis of value added compounds with medicinal and nutritional applications. Following the increasing attention on these enzymes, a novel descriptor based classification system has been proposed for FAEs resulting into 12 distinct families and pharmacophore models for three FAE sub-families have been developed. Methodology/Principal Findings: The feruloylome of Aspergillus oryzae contains 13 predicted FAEs belonging to six sub-families based on our recently developed descriptor-based classification system. The three-dimensional structures of the 13 FAEs were modeled for structural analysis of the feruloylome. The three genes coding for three enzymes, viz., A.O.2, A.O.8 and A.O.10 from the feruloylome of A. oryzae, representing sub-families with unknown functional features, were heterologously expressed in Pichia pastoris, characterized for substrate specificity and structural characterization through CD spectroscopy. Common feature-based pharamacophore models were developed according to substrate specificity characteristics of the three enzymes. The active site residues were identified for the three expressed FAEs by determining the titration curves of amino acid residues as a function of the pH by applying molecular simulations. Conclusions/Significance: Our findings on the structure-function relationships and substrate specificity of the FAEs of A. oryzae will be instrumental for further understanding of the FAE families in the novel classification system. The developed pharmacophore models could be applied for virtual screening of compound databases for short listing the putative substrates prior to docking studies or for post-processing docking results to remove false positives. Our study exemplifies how computational predictions can complement to the information obtained through experimental methods. © 2012 Udatha et al.published_or_final_versio

Bioactivities of Novel Metal Complexes Involving B Vitamins and Glycine

In this work twelve novel mixed ligand complexes were synthesized. The complexes were formed between a metal ion (Cu(II), Cd(II), Mn(II), Fe(III), Ni(II), Pb(II)) and vitamins (B 3 and B 9) as primary ligands, and glycine as secondary ligand. Melting points, conductivities, and magnetic susceptibilities of the synthesized complexes were determined and the complexes were subjected to elemental analyses. The presence of coordination water molecules in the complex was also supported by TG/DTG thermal analysis. Full elucidation of the molecular structures for the synthesized mixed ligand complexes were confirmed using detailed spectroscopic IR, 1H-, 13C-NMR, and XRD techniques. In addition, cytotoxic and antioxidant activities of the twelve synthesized solid complexes were tested to evaluate their bioactivities