Cytotoxic effects of selected gold (III) complexes on murine BCL-1 B lineage leukemia cell line

Abstract

In recent years, great interest has been focused on gold (III) complexes due to their cytotoxicity on cancer cells.

We investigated cytotoxic effects of selected, newly synthesized gold (III) complexes: [Au(en)Cl₂]⁺ (dichloride (ethylendiamine) aurate(III)-ion) [Au(dach)Cl₂] (dichloride (1,2-diaminocyclohexane) aurate(III)-ion) and [Au(bipy)Cl₂]⁺ (dichloride (2,2’-bipyridyl) aurate(III)-ion) on murine BCL-1 B lineage leukemia cell line.

The cytotoxicity of selected gold(III) complexes was evaluated by cytotoxic assay (MTT test).

The results showed that all tested gold (III) complexes displayed cytotoxic effect on BCL-1 cells. The concentration decrease was followed by markedly increase of BCL-1 cell viability. At the concentration of 125 μM, for which we suppose that could be used in vivo, [Au(bipy)Cl₂]⁺ complex showed the best cytotoxic effects among tested gold (III) complexes and similar cytotoxicity compared to cisplatinum that we used as control. Among the tested gold (III) complexes, [Au(en)Cl₂]⁺ was the least cytotoxic on BCL-1 cells.

In line with the obtained results we suggest that [Au(bipy)Cl₂]⁺  complex should be tested in vivo in experimental models of B cell leukemia.

key words: gold (III) complexes, cytotoxicity, BCL-1 cells