Antimicrobial activity of ruthenium-based intercalators

Albert Bolhuis, L Hand, J E Marshall, A D Richards, A Rodger, J Aldrich-Wright

OAI: oai:purehost.bath.ac.uk:publications/0d879a44-f2b4-46ca-b2a3-da6adde0c70d • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejps.2010.12.004

Multidrug resistance of bacterial pathogens is a major problem and there is a clear need for the development of new types of antibiotics. Here we investigated the antimicrobial activity of ruthenium(II) based DNA-intercalating complexes. These complexes were found to have no activity in vitro against the Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coil, but the complexes were clearly active against the Gram-positive bacteria Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus. In vivo activity has also been demonstrated for one of the compounds using a simple infection model, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Importantly, this also showed that the compound tested was not toxic to the nematodes.

Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus DNA intercalator Caenorhabditis elegans ruthenium complexes antimicrobial agents