Carbocyclic potential DNA minor groove binders and their biological evaluation.

The biological evaluation of carbocyclic minor groove binders 1-6 is described. The cytotoxicity of the obtained compounds was tested on MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. The mechanism of action of compounds 1-6 was studied employing the topoisomerase I/II inhibition assay and ethidium displacement assay using pBR322. Determination of association constants was done using calf thymus DNA, T4 coliphage DNA, poly(dA-dT)(2), and poly(dG-dC)(2). The effect of compounds 1-6 on the amidolytic activity of plasmin, trypsin, thrombin, and urokinase was also examined.