Aurine tricarboxylic acid, a potent metal-chelating inhibitor of NFkappaB-DNA binding.

The metal-interaction of aurine tricarboxylic acid (ATA) and its inhibitory effect on the DNA binding of NFkappaB were studied. Chemical speciation and spectroscopic studies have shown the strong interaction of ATA with metal ions present in the biological systems. EPR, FTIR and electronic spectral studies indicated the square planar structure of the metal-binding carboxylic and hydroxyl groups of ATA indicating the ground state 2B1g. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay using NFkappaB and 32P labeled DNA has shown that ATA was inhibitory against the DNA-NFkappaB binding at 30 microM. This activity was the strongest among the metal-chelating inhibitors of NFkappaB-DNA binding reported so far.