Water-Soluble Dioxidovanadium(V) Complexes of Aroylhydrazones: DNA/BSA Interactions, Hydrophobicity, and Cell-Selective Anticancer Potential.

Five new anionic aqueous dioxidovanadium(V) complexes, [{VOL}A(HO)] (-), with the aroylhydrazone ligands pyridine-4-carboxylic acid (3-ethoxy-2-hydroxybenzylidene)hydrazide (HL) and furan-2-carboxylic acid (3-ethoxy-2-hydroxybenzylidene)hydrazide (HL) incorporating different alkali metals (A = Na, K, Cs) as countercation were synthesized and characterized by various physicochemical techniques. The solution-phase stabilities of - were determined by time-dependent NMR and UV-vis, and also the octanol/water partition coefficients were obtained by spectroscopic techniques. X-ray crystallography of - confirmed the presence of vanadium(V) centers coordinated by two -oxido-O atoms and the O, N, and O atoms of a dianionic tridentate ligand. To evaluate the biological behavior, all complexes were screened for their DNA/protein binding propensity through spectroscopic experiments. Finally, a cytotoxicity study of - was performed against colon (HT-29), breast (MCF-7), and cervical (HeLa) cancer cell lines and a noncancerous NIH-3T3 cell line. The cytotoxicity was cell-selective, being more active against HT-29 than against other cells. In addition, the role of hydrophobicity in the cytotoxicity was explained in that an optimal hydrophobicity is essential for high cytotoxicity. Moreover, the results of wound-healing assays indicated antimigration in case of HT-29 cells. Remarkably, with an IC value of 5.42 ± 0.15 μM showed greater activity in comparison to cisplatin against the HT-29 cell line.