Genome-wide monitoring of gene expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae upon KP1019 treatment

KP1019 (trans-[tetrachlorobis(1H-indazole) ruthenate(III)]) is a ruthenium complex that exhibited anti-cancer activity in several in vitro and in vivo studies. KP1019 was even efficient against cancer cells that were resistant to other chemotherapeutic agents and thus emerged as a promising anti-cancer drug without dose-limiting cytotoxicity. However, the molecular mechanisms of its action are elusive. So, the present study was designed to understand the cellular processes that were affected by KP1019 treatment using budding yeast as a model organism through the transcriptomics approach. The genome-wide transcriptome was analyzed in wild-type yeast cells upon treatment with a sub-lethal dose of KP1019 (50µg/ml). The functional enrichment analysis of KP1019 transcriptome revealed many of cellular processes that were compromised and thus probable mechanisms of action. Wild-type yeast (W1588-4c) cells were grown to exponential phase and then treated with either DMSO (Untreated Control) or a sub-lethal dose of 50µg/ml KP1019 for 3h. Two independent repeats were performed for each experiment (Control or KP1019). Total RNAs were extracted and hybridized on Affymetrix microarrays.