In vitro antitumor activity of titanocene alanine complex and its interaction with nucleic acids

Titanocene alanine complex, Cp2Ti(O2CCH(CH3)NH3+Cl-)(2), has been found to have in vitro antitumor activity against Ehrlich ascites tumor cells. Study of the interaction between Cp2Ti(O2CCH(CH3)NH3+Cl-)(2) and DNA by UV-VIS spectra, fluorescence spectra, agarose gel electrophoresis reveals that Cp2Ti(O2CCH(CH3)NH3+Cl-)(2) forms a stable compound with DNA in molar ratio 1:1 and reduces the migration rate of ccc-DNA band and oc-DNA band. However, unlike cisplatin, the complex does not induce nicking of DNA even after a long incubation at a high ratio of the complex to DNA. The results suggest that titanocene-based antitumor agents have different mechanism of action from cisplatin-like antitumor agents.