In vitro cytotoxicity, cell cycle arrest, and antioxidation studies of ruthenium(II) complex [Ru(dmb) 2 (AHPIP)](ClO 4 ) 2

A new Ru(II) complex [Ru(dmb) 2 (AHPIP)](ClO 4 ) 2 ( Ru1 ) was synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, electrospray ionization mass spectra, and 1 H NMR and 13 C NMR. The cytotoxicity in vitro toward BEL-7402, HeLa, MCF-7, and MG-63 cells was studied by MTT method. The complex shows moderate cytotoxic activity and the IC 50 values are 20.2 (±1.6), 16.8 (±1.3), 39.9 (±2.5), and 46.7 (±2.0) μM toward BEL-7402, HeLa, MCF-7, and MG-63 cell lines, respectively. Apoptosis was studied by acridine orange/ethidium bromide staining and flow cytometry. The cellular uptake showed that the complex can enter into the cytoplasm. The cell cycle arrest showed that Ru1 inhibits the proliferation of BEL-7402 cells in the G0/G1 phase. In addition, the antioxidant activity of the complex against hydroxyl radical ( · OH) was also investigated.