Potencial Antitumoral do Metalocomplexo de Cobre (II) DRI-12 - Uma Análise In Vitro e In Sílico no Tratamento do Câncer de Próstata

Abstract

This study addresses the antitumor potential of the Copper(II) metallocomplex DRI-12 in prostate cancer (PC-3) cells, comparing its effect with healthy cells (PNT-2). DRI-12 showed significant in vitro cytotoxic activity, with IC50 values of 4.543 µM for tumor cells and 5.414 µM for non-tumor cells, demonstrating low selectivity (SI = 1.19). Cell viability assays using AlamarBlue highlighted its ability to inhibit cell growth, while molecular interaction studies indicated a specific affinity with DNA, suggesting a possible relevant antitumor mechanism of action. The Comet assay corroborated the compound’s genotoxicity, with detectable DNA damage across all evaluated parameters and proportional to the applied dose. Despite its limited selectivity, the results demonstrated that DRI-12 has a high capacity to induce damage in tumor cells and to block critical pathways for their survival. These findings reinforce the potential of DRI-12 as a promising alternative in prostate cancer therapies, which may be optimized to improve its efficacy and tumor specificity, based on the robust cytogenotoxicity and molecular interaction results obtained.