DNA Interaction and Cytotoxic studies on Mono/Di-Oxo and Peroxo- Vanadium (V) complexes - A Review

Vanadium is considered to be biologically significant and several vanadium IV & V complexes have successfully been studied as chemotherapeutic agents like insulin mimetic, antibacterial, antioxidant, and anticancer activities. The divergent ligand systems also play a pivotal role in designing the metal complex with desired properties. Thus, the combination of both with their synergistic advantages results in a potential drug candidate. Different mechanistic pathways have been proposed to explain the antitumor effects of vanadium complexes, including induction of tyrosine residues phosphorylation, inhibition of key protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPases), which in turn promote the activation of the extracellular regulated kinase cascading (ERK) pathway. In the current review, we have summarized the work on vanadium (V) complexes based on different ligand systems and their biological significance as an anticancer lead compound.