This paper studies the anticancer potency of dendritic
poly(aryl
ether)-substituted polypyridyl ligand-based ruthenium(II) coordination
entities. The dendritic coordination entities were successfully designed,
synthesized, and characterized by different spectral methods such
as Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), 1H and 13C− NMR, and mass spectrometry. Further, to understand the
structure and solvation behavior of the coordination entities, we
performed all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The behavior,
configuration, and size of the coordination entities in DMSO and water
were studied by calculating the radius of gyration (R
g) and solvent-accessible surface area (SASA). The MTT
assay was used to assess the in vitro cytotoxicity of all of the coordination
entities against cancerous A549 (lung cancer cells), MDA MB 231 (breast
cancer cells), and HepG2 (liver cancer cells) and was found to be
good with comparable IC50 values with respect to the standard
drug cisplatin. The coordination entities exhibited dose dependence,
and the highest activity was shown against HepG2 cell lines in comparison
to the other cancer cell lines. In addition, fluorescence staining
studies, such as AO/EB, DAPI, and cell death analysis by PI staining,
were performed on the coordination entities to understand the apoptosis
mechanism. Furthermore, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial
membrane potential (MMP) assays confirmed apoptosis in cancer cells
via the mitochondrial pathway. The DNA fragmentation assay was done
followed by molecular docking analysis with DNA executed to strengthen
and support the experimental observations.