Issue 45, 2020

Evaluation of cobalt complexes with tripod ligands for zinc finger targeting

Abstract

Cobalt complexes have been demonstrated to target zinc fingers, as shown by investigations of Doxovir, the trade name of the [CoIII(acacen)(2-Me-Imz)2]+ drug in clinical trials. Mechanistic studies indicate zinc finger disruption by metal coordination to His residues. Other than Doxovir, a few studies have investigated other ligands and geometries for cobalt complexes for zinc finger targeting. Tripod ligands demonstrated good zinc and cobalt chelation. In this manuscript, we report the ability of CoII and CoIII complexes of tri(2-pyridylmethyl)amine and N,N-di(2-pyridylmethyl)glycinate to disrupt zinc fingers. The results obtained by mass spectrometry and X-ray absorption spectroscopy demonstrate that the complexes were able to remove zinc from the zinc fingers. The product was oxidised apo-peptide. In contrast, the ligands themselves were able to remove zinc, and they did not promote oxidation, resulting in free Cys residues. Cobalt finger adducts were not detected for the complexes with tripod ligands unless they were coordinated to planar ligands such as salen or acacen. Studies of the interactions of cobalt complexes with amino acids demonstrated that tripod ligands promote the cysteine reaction, while the salen ligands promote histidine coordination, demonstrating a different mechanism of action. The results reported here are significant for better understanding and further design of zinc finger targeting compounds.

Graphical abstract: Evaluation of cobalt complexes with tripod ligands for zinc finger targeting

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
07 Qun 2020
Accepted
15 Cig 2020
First published
17 Cig 2020

Dalton Trans., 2020,49, 16143-16153

Evaluation of cobalt complexes with tripod ligands for zinc finger targeting

H. M. Aðalsteinsson, F. A. Lima, C. Galuppo and C. Abbehausen, Dalton Trans., 2020, 49, 16143 DOI: 10.1039/D0DT00067A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements