Synthesis, characterization of ruthenium(II) complex of 1,3,8-trihydroxy-6-methyl-anthraquinone (emodin) and its binding behavior with c-myc G-quadruplex

In this paper, a novel ruthenium(II) complex of emodin, Ru(bpy)2Emodin(RBL17, bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine; Eomdin = 1,3,8-trihydroxy-6-methyl-anthraquinone), has been synthesized and characterized by ESI-MS, H-1 NMR, H-1-H-1 COSY and electronic spectra. The binding behavior of RBL17 with c-myc G4 DNA has been further investigated by ITC (isothermal titration calorimetry), FRET (fluorescence resonance energy transfer) and H-1 NMR spectra, as well as spectroscopic methods. Those results showed that this complex has the ability to bind and stabilize the conformation of c-myc G-quadruplex via groove binding mode. Taken together, ruthenium(II) complex of emodin can act as a potential inhibitor in chemotherapy by targeting to c-myc G4 DNA. (C) 2014 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.