Spectroscopic studies of anthracyclines: Structural characterization and in vitro tracking

• The potential of UV-vis and FT-IR spectroscopies for anthracycline characterization is presented.
• Raman spectroscopy is the method of choice for antibiotic study both in the isolated form as well as after incubation with cells.
• Raman spectroscopy provides a potential route towards in vitro screening of chemotherapeutic agents, to explore their uptake, and subcellular distribution.

A broad spectroscopic characterization, using ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) and Fourier transform infrared absorption as well as Raman scattering, of two commonly used anthracyclines antibiotics (DOX) daunorubicin (DNR), their epimers (EDOX, EDNR) and ten selected analogs is presented. The paper serves as a comprehensive spectral library of UV–vis, IR and Raman spectra of anthracyclines in the solid state and in solution. The particular advantage of Raman spectroscopy for the measurement and analysis of individual antibiotics is demonstrated. Raman spectroscopy can be used to monitor the in vitro uptake and distribution of the drug in cells, using both 488 nm and 785 nm as source wavelengths, with submicrometer spatial resolution, although the cellular accumulation of the drug is different in each case. The high information content of Raman spectra allows studies of the drug-cell interactions, and so the method seems very suitable for monitoring drug uptake and mechanisms of interaction with cellular compartments at the subcellular level.

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