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Plant‐Derived Stilbenoids as DNA‐Binding Agents: From Monomers to Dimers
Author(s) -
Platella Chiara,
Mazzini Stefania,
Napolitano Ettore,
Mattio Luce M.,
Beretta Giovanni Luca,
Zaffaroni Nadia,
Pinto Andrea,
Montesarchio Daniela,
Dallavalle Sabrina
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.202101229
Subject(s) - chemistry , circular dichroism , dna , monomer , stereochemistry , resveratrol , duplex (building) , g quadruplex , fluorescence spectroscopy , biochemistry , fluorescence , biophysics , organic chemistry , biology , physics , quantum mechanics , polymer
Stilbenoids are natural compounds endowed with several biological activities, including cardioprotection and cancer prevention. Among them, (±)‐ trans ‐δ‐viniferin, deriving from trans ‐resveratrol dimerization, was investigated in its ability to target DNA duplex and G‐quadruplex structures by exploiting NMR spectroscopy, circular dichroism, fluorescence spectroscopy and molecular docking. (±)‐ trans ‐δ‐Viniferin proved to bind both the minor and major grooves of duplexes, whereas it bound the 3’‐ and 5’‐ends of a G‐quadruplex by stacking on the outer quartets, accompanied by rearrangement of flanking residues. Specifically, (±)‐ trans ‐δ‐viniferin demonstrated higher affinity for the investigated DNA targets than its monomeric counterpart. Additionally, the methoxylated derivatives of (±)‐ trans ‐δ‐viniferin and trans ‐resveratrol, i. e. (±)‐pterostilbene‐ trans ‐dihydrodimer and trans ‐pterostilbene, respectively, were evaluated, revealing similar binding modes, affinities and stoichiometries with the DNA targets as their parent analogues. All tested compounds were cytotoxic at μM concentration on several cancer cell lines, showing DNA damaging activity consistent with their ability to tightly interact with duplex and G‐quadruplex structures.