Screening of biological response to l-methionine based complexes as antitumor agents

Abstract This work reports an effort to understand the role of amino acid with DNA interactions in binding of biologically imperative metallointercalators [Cu(II), Ni(II) and Zn(II)], incorporated by benzylidine-4-aminoantipyrine (L) and l -methionine (Met) ligands. Herein, the pre-clinical evaluations of synthesized amino acid mixed-ligand complexes, inflammatory response and analgesic activity, have been done. In vivo and in vitro anti-tumor functions of the complexes against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma tumor model have been investigated. All these metal chelates are strong SOD mimetic compounds and also behave as peroxyl radical scavengers. Towards non-cancerous cell line, Cu(II) complex exhibits very low toxicity. On the other hand all the complexes have been found to exhibit cytotoxic effects against cancerous cell lines with potency more than that of the widely used drug cisplatin and hence they have the potential to act as promising anticancer agents. Captivatingly, they are non-toxic to normal cell lymphocytes, revealing that they are selective in killing only the cancer cells.