Cytotoxicity of Nocobactins NA-a, NA-b and their Ferric Complexes Assessed by Semiempirical Molecular Orbital Method

Nocobactins NA-a (NBNAa) and NA-b (NBNAb) showed higher cytotoxic activity against human tumor cell lines (HSC-2, HSC-3, HL-60) than against normal human cells (gingival fibroblast, pulp cell, periodontal ligament fibroblast), yielding tumor specificity indices (TS) of 80.0 and 43.9, respectively. We investigated the effect of FeCl 3 on these compounds, as judged by changes in their cytotoxicity and absorption spectra. Addition of an equimolar concentration of FeCl 3 almost completely abrogated the cytotoxicity and changed the pattern of absorption spectra of NBNAa and NBNAb. Mass spectrometry demonstrated that ferri-nocobactin NA-a (Fe-NBNAa) contains an iron atom, and this chelating complex had two orders lower cytotoxicity than intact NBNAa. A semi-empirical molecular orbital method (CAChe), based on these experimental data, proposed the estimated structure of Fe-NBNAa. The present study suggests that NBNAa and NBNAb are promising compounds for further study of antitumor potential in vivo, although their biological activity is significantly affected by the Fe 3+ concentration in both intracellular and extracellular milieus.