Theoretical analysis, synthesis and biological activity against normal and cancer cells of a complex formed by a novel sugar cryptand and anticancer drug mitomycin C

This work presents the theoretical, spectroscopic, and biological characterization of cryptand 1,10-N,N'-bis-(β-d-ureidocellobiosyl)-4,7,13,16-tetraoxa-1,10-diazacyclooctadecane (TN) as a drug carrier for the anticancer agent mitomycin C. Spectroscopic analysis confirms the successful formation of a stable 1:1 complex in water, with the preferred configuration involving interactions between mitomycin C and all functional moieties of TN. These findings are further supported and elaborated upon through theoretical modeling. Using the density functional theory (DFT) method, the complexation energy was estimated at -25.8 kcal/mol (-107.95 kJ/mol). This value is compared with the literature data, accompanied by a detailed discussion. The biological assessment conducted for TN, mitomycin C, and their complex demonstrates that binding mitomycin C in a complex effectively reduces its cytotoxicity toward all analyzed cell lines.