Cytotoxic activity of acridin-3,6-diyl dithiourea hydrochlorides in human leukemia line HL-60 and resistant subline HL-60/ADR.

A series of acridin-3,6-diyl-dithiourea hydrochloride derivatives (alkyl-AcrDTU) was prepared and tested against sensitive and drug resistant leukemia cell lines for their cytotoxic/cytostatic activity. The products (ethyl-, n-propyl-, n-butyl-, n-pentyl-AcrDTU) showed high DNA binding affinity via intercalation (K=7.6-2.