Date of Award

6-2014

Document Type

Open Access

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Department

Biochemistry

First Advisor

Laurie A. Tyler

Language

English

Keywords

complexes, activity, based, metal, use

Abstract

Cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin are all platinum-containing complexes that have been approved for use as chemotherapy drugs. The success of these complexes as well as their downfalls have sparked interest into alternative transition metal based compounds as potential chemotherapeutic agents. The use of platinum based complexes in cancer treatment has faced complications including cytotoxicity and drug resistance. The use of copper(II) as an alternative metal center is of specific interest because of bioavailability and elevated concentrations of this metal ion within tumor cells. Three copper complexes that utilize a nitrogen based ligand system, two of which contain a thiazole moiety have been synthesized and characterized. The biological activity and potential cytotoxicity of these complexes was measured on the basis of nuclease activity, DNA binding, and interaction with BSA. These characteristics were determined by quantitative analysis of studies using ethidium bromide, gel electrophoresis, and UV-Vis spectroscopy. It has been shown that all of these complexes exhibit concentration dependent nuclease activity utilizing a mechanism dependent on reactive oxygen species. Here, comparisons between the activity of these newly synthesized compounds and those previously studied are presented to aid in developing a correlation between ligand structure and complex activity.

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