A symmetrical macrocyclic dizinc(II) complex (1) has been synthesized by using the ligand (L(1)) [μ-11,24-dimethyl-4,7,16,19-tetraoxa-3,8,15,20-tetraazatricyclo-[20.3.1.1(10,13)] heptacosa-1(25),2,7,9,11,13(27),14,20,22(26),23-decaene-26,27-diol]. A series of unsymmetrical macrocyclic dizinc(II) complexes (2-6) has been synthesized by Schiff base condensation of bicompartmental mononuclear complex [ZnL] [μ-3,16-dimethyl-8,11-dioxa-7,12-diazadicyclo-[1.1(14,18)] heptacosa-1,3,5(20),6,12,14,16,18(19)-octacaene-19,20-diolato)zinc(II)] with various diamines like 1,2-diamino ethane (L(2)), 1,3-diamino propane (L(3)), 1,4-diamino butane (L(4)), 1,2-diamino benzene (L(5)), and 1,8-diamino naphthalene (L(6)). The ligand L(1) and all the zinc(II) complexes were structurally characterized. To corroborate the consequence of the aromatic moiety in comparison to the aliphatic moiety present in the macrocyclic ring on the phosphate ester hydrolysis, DNA binding and cleavage properties have been studied. The observed first order rate constant values for the hydrolysis of 4-nitrophenyl phosphate ester reaction are in the range from 2.73 × 10(-2) to 9.86 × 10(-2) s(-1).The interactions of complexes 1-6 with calf thymus DNA were studied by spectroscopic techniques, including absorption, fluorescence, and circular dichroism spectroscopy. The DNA binding constant values of the complexes were found in the range from 1.80 × 10(5) to 9.50 × 10(5) M(-1), and the binding affinities are in the following order: 6 > 5 > 1 > 2 > 3 > 4. All the dizinc(II) complexes 1-6 effectively promoted the hydrolytic cleavage of plasmid pBR322 DNA under anaerobic and aerobic conditions. Kinetic data for DNA hydrolysis promoted by 6 under physiological conditions give the observed rate constant (k(obs)) of 4.42 ± 0.2 h(-1), which shows a 10(8)-fold rate acceleration over the uncatalyzed reaction of ds-DNA. The comparison of the dizinc(II) complexes 1-6 with the monozinc(II) complex [ZnL] indicates that the DNA cleavage acceleration promoted by 1-6 are due to the efficient cooperative catalysis of the two close proximate zinc(II) cation centers. The ligand L(1), dizinc(II) complexes 1, 3, and 6 showed cytotoxicity in human hepatoma HepG2 cancer cells, giving IC(50) values of 117, 37.1, 16.5, and 8.32 μM, respectively. The results demonstrated that 6, a dizinc(II) complex with potent antiproliferative activity, is able to induce caspase-dependent apoptosis in human cancer cells. Cytotoxicity of the complexes was further confirmed by the lactate dehydrogenase enzyme level in HepG2 cell lysate and content media.

Oxidative stress plays an important role in the progression of diabetes complications. The aim of the present study was to investigate the beneficial effect of oral administration of mangiferin in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats by measuring the oxidative indicators in liver and kidney as well as the ameliorative properties. Administration of mangiferin to diabetic rats significantly decreased blood glucose and increased plasma insulin levels. The activities of antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and level of reduced glutathione (GSH) were significantly (P < 0.05) decreased while increases in the levels of lipidperoxidation (LPO) markers were observed in liver and kidney tissues of diabetic control rats as compared to normal control rats. Oral treatment with mangiferin (40 mg/kg b.wt/day) for a period of 30 days showed significant ameliorative effects on all the biochemical and oxidative parameters studied. Diabetic rats treated with mangiferin restored almost normal architecture of liver and kidney tissues, which was confirmed by histopathological examination. These results indicated that mangiferin has potential ameliorative effects in addition to its antidiabetic effect in experimentally induced diabetic rats.

BackgroundThe present study involves diversity and bioactivity of the endophytic fungal community from Catharanthus roseus inhabiting the coastal region. This study has been conducted hypothesizing that the microbial communities in the coastal regions would tolerate a range of abiotic stress such as salinity, humidity, temperature and soil composition, and it may produce new metabolites, which may possess bioactive property. Therefore in the current study, the cytotoxicity and free radical scavenging potential of the fungal organic extracts have been investigated. Moreover, the apoptotic and the antioxidant potential of the fungus that exhibited the best activity in preliminary screening has also been demonstrated.ResultsTwenty endophytic fungal isolates were obtained from different parts of the plant, and identified using internal transcribed spacer region analysis. Based on the colonization frequency, the dominant genera were found to be Colletotrichum, Alternaria and Chaetomium with colonization frequency % of 8.66, 7.00 and 6.33, respectively. It was observed that the species diversity and richness was the highest in bark followed by leaf and stem regions of the plant. On screening the fungal ethyl acetate extracts for cytotoxicity against the HeLa cells, the Chaetomium nigricolor extract exhibited potent cytotoxic activity of 92.20% at 100 μg mL− 1 concentration. Comparison between the different organic extracts (ethyl acetate, chloroform, dichloromethane and hexane) of Chaetomium nigricolor mycelial and culture filtrate, it was observed that the mycelial as well the culture filtrate ethyl acetate extracts and the culture filtrate hexane extract showed significant cytotoxic potential against the HeLa and MCF-7 cells, respectively. The apoptotic- and mitochondrial membrane depolarisation-induction potential of the Chaetomium nigricolor ethyl acetate extract has also been demonstrated in this study. Further the screening of antioxidant potential of the ethyl acetate fungal extracts using DPPH scavenging assay showed that Chaetomium nigricolor extract exhibited potential activity with a significant EC50 value of 22 μg mL− 1. The ethyl acetate extract of Chaetomium nigricolor also exhibited superoxide radical scavenging potential.ConclusionThese results indicated that diverse endophytic fungal population inhabits Catharanthus roseus. One of the fungal isolate Chaetomium nigricolor exhibited significant cytotoxic, apoptotic and antioxidant potential.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12866-019-1386-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

A new bis-phenanthroline dicopper(II) complex has been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis and spectroscopic methods. The molecular structure of the dinuclear Cu(II) complex [Cu(2)(μ-CH(3)COO)(μ-H(2)O)(μ-OH)(phen)(2)](2+) (phen = 1,10-phenanthroline) (1) was determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction technique. The coordination environment around each Cu(II) ion in complex 1 can be described as slightly distorted square pyramidal geometry. The distance between the CuCu centers in the complex is found to be 2.987 Å. The electronic, redox, phosphate hydrolysis, DNA binding and DNA cleavage have been studied. The antiproliferative effect of complex 1 was confirmed by the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) enzyme level in MCF-7 cancer cell lysate and content media. The dicopper(II) complex inhibited the LDH enzyme as well as the growth of the human breast cancer MCF7 cell line at an IC(50) value of 0.011 μg ml(-1). The results strongly suggest that complex 1 is a good cancer therapeutic agent. Electrochemical studies of complex 1 showed an irreversible, followed by a quasi-reversible, one electron reduction processes between -0.20 to -0.8 V. Michaelis-Menten kinetic parameters for the hydrolysis of 4-nitrophenyl phosphate by complex 1 are k(cat) = 3.56 × 10(-2) s(-1) and K(M) = 4.3 × 10(-2) M. Complex 1 shows good binding propensity to calf thymus DNA, with a binding constant value of 1.3 (±0.13) × 10(5) M(-1) (s = 2.1). The size of the binding site and viscosity data suggest a DNA intercalative binding nature of the complex. Complex 1 shows efficient hydrolytic cleavage of supercoiled pBR322-DNA in the dark and in the absence of any external reagents, as demonstrated by the T4 ligase experiment. The pseudo-Michaelis-Menten kinetic parameters for DNA hydrolysis by complex 1 are k(cat) = 1.27 ± 0.4 h(-1) and K(M) = 7.7 × 10(-2) M.

A novel phenolic compound, 4-(2,4,7-trioxa-bicyclo[4.1.0]heptan-3-yl) phenol (1), was isolated from Pestalotiopsis mangiferae, an endophytic fungus associated with Mangifera indica Linn. The structure of the compound was elucidated on the basis of comprehensive spectral analysis (UV, IR, ¹H-, ¹³C- and 2D-NMR, as well as HRESI-MS). Compound (1) shows potent antibacterial and antifungal activity against Bacillus subtilis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Micrococcus luteus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans. The transmission electron microscope study for the mode of inhibition of compound (1) on bacterial pathogens revealed the destruction of bacterial cells by cytoplasm agglutination with the formation of pores in cell wall membranes.