# Anticancer and Antimicrobial Activities of New Cobalt and Zinc Complex-Derived Benzimidazole Containing Nitro or Methyl Groups

## TL;DR

New cobalt and zinc complexes with benzimidazole show strong anticancer effects on lung cancer cells and antimicrobial activity against bacteria and yeast.

## Contribution

Synthesis and evaluation of new cobalt and zinc benzimidazole complexes with anticancer and antimicrobial properties.

## Key findings

- Compounds 4 and 5 showed higher cytotoxicity against A549 cells than cisplatin.
- Compounds were less toxic to healthy BEAS-2B cells compared to cisplatin.
- The compounds exhibited notable antimicrobial activity against tested bacteria and yeast.

## Abstract

The cytotoxic effects
of six newly synthesized 5(6)-methyl
or 5(6)-nitrobenzimidazole-derived
compounds that contain cobalt and zinc on nonsmall cell lung carcinoma
(A549) and healthy lung epithelial (BEAS-2B) cell lines were evaluated
by MTT, caspase-3, and Western Blotting methods. Cisplatin was also
used as a reference compound. Compound 4 and compound 5 exhibited high cytotoxic activity against A549. While the
IC50 value of cisplatin was 14.31 μM, IC50 values of compound 4 and compound 5 were
10.30 and 7.01 μM on A549 cells at 72 h, respectively. On the
other hand, for BEAS-2B cells, the IC50 values of cisplatin,
compound 4, and compound 5 were 5.91, 90.13,
and 51,68 μM, respectively. The results showed that although
compounds 4 and 5 have high cytotoxicity
on A549 cells, similar to cisplatin, they are less cytotoxic to BEAS-2B
cells than cisplatin. The antibacterial and antifungal properties
of the synthesized compounds were also investigated using minimum
inhibitory concentration method. Their antimicrobial activities were
tested against the Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia
coli ATCC 25922 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853, Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213, and yeast species Candida albicans ATCC 90028 and Candida tropicalis. The compounds showed notable antimicrobial activity against these
pathogenic bacteria and yeasts.