DNA interaction and photodynamic antitumor activity of transition metal mono-hydroxyl corrole

A series of iron(III), manganese(III) and copper(III) mono-hydroxyl corrole complexes had been prepared and well characterized by UV–vis, 1H NMR, 19F NMR and HR-MS. These metallocorroles may bind to CT-DNA through external binding mode. Metallocorrole Fe-2c exhibited significant phototoxicity and low toxicity toward A549 tumor cells. While manganese (III) and copper (III) corroles showed hypotoxicity to A549, MCF-7 and HepG-2 tumor cells, whether under dark or illumination conditions. All tested metallocorroles exhibited non-toxicity to human normal cells (GES-1) with or without irradiation at 625 nm. Cell cycle analysis indicated that metallocorrole Fe-2c arrested the cell cycle at G2/M phase and increased the Sub-G1 phase in A549 cell lines. It was mainly localized at mitochondria and could significantly reduce mitochondrial membrane potential after photodynamic treatment, which would further induce tumor cell apoptosis.