A new Co(II)-containing coordination polymer: treatment activity on sepsis mice by activating the NLRP3 inflammatory pathway

Abstract

The solvothermal reaction between H4L, the rigid 2,6-di(2′,5′-dicarboxylphenyl)pyridine ligand, and Co(NO3)2·6H2O in water and DMF results in generation of a three-dimensional (3 D) coordination polymer (CP), [Co4(L)2(H2O)4] n ·4DMF·H2O (1, DMF = N,N-dimethylformamide), with Co(II) ions as nodes. The characterization shows that 1 has a 3 D framework structure based on tetranuclear [Co4(μ1-COO)(μ2-COO)6], whose framework could be simplified into a binodal (3,6)-linked three-dimensional network with point symbol (42·6)2(44·62·88·10). The assessment of its application on sepsis mice was implemented and the detailed mechanism was studied. First, the relative expression of NLRP3 and ASC was detected via real time RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) assay after treatment with 1. Subsequently, the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was performed and the IL-18 (interleukin-18) and IL-1β (interleukin-1β) contents were detected after treatment with 1. Molecular docking simulation confirmed that the biological activity came from the hydrogen bond that was formed between carboxyl group and the active site.