Ruthenium(II) complexes synthesized as potential inducers of conformation inversion of AS1411 G4 DNA

Herein, four ruthenium(II) complexes, [Ru(L) 2 (PEIP)(CH 2 ) 4 Br)](ClO 4 ) 2 (L = phen, 1 ; bpy, 2 , PEIP = 2-(2-phenyl-ethenyl)-1 H -imidazole-[4,5 f ][1,10]phenanthroline) and [Ru(L) 2 (PEIP)(CH 2 ) 4 Erianin)](ClO 4 ) 2 (L = phen, 1E ; bpy, 2E ) have been synthesized and investigated as promising inducer to promote conformation inversion of AS1411 G4 DNA. All of these complexes can bind and stabilize AS1411 G4 DNA. Subsequent investigations reveal that in the presence of 1 and 1E, the described circular dichroism signal of AS1411 G4 DNA was reversed. Furthermore, it is discovered that in the presence of 1 and 1E, AS1411 G4 DNA can condense to a somewhat loose nano-network. Moreover, the analysis using molecular docking demonstrates that the conformation inversion of AS1411 G4 DNA is largely dependent on the binding sites of 1 and 1E. In conclusion, these complexes will be used for tumor diagnostics in the clinical context because of their capacity to stably bind AS1411 G4 DNA and dramatically boost its fluorescence emission. Besides, these complexes show promise as inducers of AS1411 G4 DNA conformational inversion.