Synthesis, structure, biochemical, and docking studies of a new dinitrosyl iron complex [Fe2(μ-SC4H3SCH2)2(NO)4]

A new dinitrosyl iron complex of binuclear structure [Fe-2(mu-S-2-methylthiophene)(2)(NO)(4)] was first synthesized and structurally characterized by XRD and theoretical methods. Using caspase-3 as an example it was shown that [Fe-2(mu-S-2-methylthiophene)(2)(NO)(4)] and its analog [Fe-2(mu-S-2-methylfurane)(2)(NO)(4)] can inhibit the action of active site cysteine proteins; the difference in inhibitory activity was explained by molecular docking studies. Biochemical and in silico studies give grounds that the biological activity of dinitrosyl iron complexes is a mu-SR bridging ligand structure function. Thus the rational design strategy of [Fe-2(mu-SR)(2)(NO)(4)] complexes can be applied to make NO prodrugs with high affinity to therapeutically significant targets involved in cancer and inflammation. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.