DNA as a target for lanthanide(III) complexes influence

Despite the rapid development of modern methods of cancer treatments, chemotherapy is still one of the most important, and sometimes, the only one method of therapy. The development of cancer treatment methods indicates that search of the new, more effective and safer medicines are necessary. Treatment using common anticancer drugs is associated with their interaction with DNA. Further research on the binding of metal ions and their complexes to DNA resulted from their potential applications as new therapeutic and diagnostic agents. It is well known that mutations in DNA play a significant role in the formation of tumors, however not all of these processes are known. The recognition of binding lanthanide (Ill) ions or lanthanide(III) complexes to DNA and cleavage DNA via lanthanide(III) complexes are important to understand unknown mutations that lead to cancer and treatment of this disease. The scientists have been undertaking various attempts to interfere the human DNA in order to overcome genetic diseases. Gene therapy could be considered as a kind of scissors that allow to cleavage the DNA in the proper place and insert the corrective gene. Lanthanide(III) ions and their complexes, due to their unique properties, could be widely used as luminescent probes for bioassays and as reagents in optical and magnetic resonance imaging. The luminescence properties of these compounds also have been adopted in medicinal diagnosis. This review will summarize the role of lanthanide(III) ions and their compounds in recent studies on the use of lanthanide(III) complexes to bind, cleavage of DNA also in diagnosis, and monitoring the treatment of cancer disease. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.