👤 Howerton BS

Title: Rhenium(I)-tricarbonyl complexes with methimazole and its selenium analogue: Syntheses, characterization and cell toxicity. Abstract: This study explores the effect of a thione/selone ligand on the cell toxicity (in vitro) and light activity of diimine Re(CO)3+ complexes. Six rhenium(I) complexes with general formula fac-[Re(CO)3(N,N')X]+ were prepared, where X = 2-mercapto-1-methylimidazole (methimazole; MMI), and 1-methylimidazole-2-selone (MSeI); N,N' = 2,2'-bipyridine (bpy), 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) and 2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline (dmphen). Their triflate salts were characterized using single-crystal X-ray diffraction, 1H, 13C and 2D NMR, UV-vis and vibrational spectroscopy. Their cytotoxic properties were tested, showing significant cytotoxicity (IC50 = 8.0-55 μM) towards the human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231. The half-inhibitory concentration (IC50) for fac-[Re(CO)3(dmphen)(MMI)]+, the most toxic complex in this series (8.0 ± 0.2 μM), was comparable to that of the corresponding aqua complex fac-[Re(CO)3(dmphen)(H2O)]+ with IC50 = 6.0 ± 0.1 μM. The fac-[Re(CO)3(bpy)(MMI/MSeI)]+ complexes were somewhat less toxic towards the human embryonic kidney cell line HEK-293 T after 48 h of exposure. The stability of the complexes upon irradiation was monitored using UV-vis spectroscopy, with no CO released when exposed to UV-A light (λ = 365 nm). Show less

8-Hydroxyquinolines (HQ), including clioquinol, possess cytotoxic properties and are widely used as ligands for metal-based anticancer drug research. The number and identity of substituents on the HQ can have a profound effect on activity for a variety of inorganic compounds. Ruthenium complexes of HQ exhibit radically improved potencies, and operate by a new, currently unknown, mechanism of action. To define structure-activity relationships (SAR), a family of 22 Ru(II) coordination complexes containing mono-, di- and tri-substituted hydroxyquinoline ligands were synthesized and their biological activity evaluated. The complexes exhibited promising cytotoxic activity against a cancer cell line, and the SAR data revealed the 2- and 7-positions as key sites for the incorporation of halogens to improve potency. The Ru(II) complexes potently inhibited translation, as demonstrated by an in-cell translation assay. The effects were seen at 2-15-fold higher concentrations than those required to observe cytotoxicity, suggesting that prevention of protein synthesis may be a primary, but not the exclusive mechanism for the observed cytotoxic activity. Show less

Strained ruthenium (Ru) complexes have been synthesized and characterized as novel agents for photodynamic therapy (PDT). The complexes are inert until triggered by visible light, which induces ligand loss and covalent modification of DNA. An increase in cytotoxicity of 2 orders of magnitude is observed with light activation in cancer cells, and the compounds display potencies superior to cisplatin against 3D tumor spheroids. The use of intramolecular strain may be applied as a general paradigm to develop light-activated ruthenium complexes for PDT applications. Show less

Incorporation of biquinoline ligands into Ru(II) polypyridyl complexes produces light-activated systems that eject a ligand and photobind DNA after irradiation with visible and near-IR light. Structural analysis shows that distortion facilitates the photochemistry, and gel shift and cytotoxicity studies prove the compounds act as anti-cancer photodynamic therapy (PDT) agents in the tissue penetrant region. Show less