Detailed profiling on DNA binding affinity, cytotoxicity and pathway of induced cell death of novel water-soluble Cu(â ¡)-based acylhydrazone porphyrin derivatives

Novel water-soluble Cu(Ⅱ)-based acylhydrazone porphyrin derivatives have been synthesized. Versatile physicochemical approaches indicated that all the complexes could effectually bind with ct-DNA via intercalative or end-stacking interactions, especially, Cu-Por3 has the strongest binding affinity compared with others. Meanwhile, the antiproliferative activity has been evaluated by MTT assay turned out that Cu-Por3 yet exhibits gratifying cytotoxicity in A549 human lung cancer cell lines, suggesting that Cu-Por3 is a potential candidacy among the tested agents. An extraction method was performed to quantified identify the cellular uptake to better comprehend the anticancer behaviors. Moreover, the mode of cell death effected by the representative Cu-Por3 complex has been explored by using various biochemical techniques like cell cycle and apoptosis through flow cytometric analysis.