New platinum–oxicam complexes as anti-cancer drugs. Synthesis, characterization, release studies from smart hydrogels, evaluation of reactivity with selected proteins and cytotoxic activity in vitro

The reaction of aqueous cis-[Pt(NH3)2(H2O)2](NO3)2 with Na+HMEL− (H2MEL, meloxicam, 4-hydroxy-2-methyl-N-(5-methyl-1,3-thiazol-2-yl)-2H-1,2-benzothiazine-3-carboxamide-1,1-dioxide), and Na+HISO− (H2ISO, isoxicam, 4-hydroxy-2-methyl-N-(5-methylisoxazol-3-yl)-2H-1,2-benzothiazine-3-carboxamide-1,1-dioxide) at pH 7 produced micro-crystalline cis-[Pt(NH3)2(N1′-HMEL)2], 5 and cis-[Pt(NH3)2(N1′-HISO)2], 6. The X-ray diffraction structure of 5 shows two HMEL− anions donating through the thiazole nitrogen atoms and adopting a head-to-tail (HT) conformation. The 1H NMR spectrum for 5 from DMSO-d6 shows inertness of the complex up to at least 24 h. Delivery studies for 5 and 6 from vinyl hydrogel based on l-phenylalanine (pH 6.5, 25 °C) show that concentrations of complexes ranging between 2.5 and 5 μM can be reached after a day. Compounds 5 and 6 show strong anti-proliferative effects on CH1 cells (ovarian carcinoma, human) in vitro, IC50 values being 0.60 and 0.37 μM, respectively (0.16 μM for reference, cis-diamminodichloridoplatinum(II), cisplatin). ESI-MS measurements clearly documented that both 5 and 6 form adducts with the three model proteins ubiquitin (UBI), cytochrome c (CYT C) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), the HISO− complex being significantly more effective than the HMEL− one. Density functional methods help in finding rationale for the easiest dissociation of Pt–H2ISO/HISO bonds when compared to the Pt–N1′–H2MEL/N1′–HMEL linkages.

Graphical abstractCis-[Pt(NH3)2(HMel/HIso)2] complexes were prepared from the reaction of cis-[Pt(NH3)2(H2O)2]2+ and the drugs Meloxicam and Isoxicam, the structural characterization in solid (X-ray), solution (NMR) and gas phases (DFT) was carried out, the loading of complexes into vinyl hydrogels was carried out and the kinetic for drug delivery in water was determined, finally cytotoxic activity measurements against human cancer cell lines showed selective activity for ovarian cells, the complexes form adducts with selected proteins.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide