Abstract
Medicinal inorganic chemistry involving the utilization of metal-based compounds as
therapeutics has become a field showing distinct promise. DNA and RNA are ideal drug
targets for therapeutic intervention in the case of various diseases, such as cancer
and microbial infection. Metals play a vital role in medicine, with at least 10 metals
known to be essential for human life and a further 46 nonessential metals having been
involved in drug therapies and diagnosis. These metal-based complexes interact with
DNA in various ways, and are often delivered as prodrugs which undergo activation
in vivo. Metal complexes cause DNA crosslinking, leading to the inhibition of DNA synthesis
and repair. In this review, the various interactions of metal complexes with DNA nucleic
acids, as well as the underlying mechanism of action, were highlighted. Furthermore,
we also discussed various tools used to investigate the interaction between metal
complexes and the DNA. The tools included in vitro techniques such as spectroscopy and electrophoresis, and in silico studies such as protein docking and density-functional theory that are highlighted
for preclinical development.
Keywords
metal-based complexes - DNA inhibitors - drug therapies - nonessential metals
