Eight rhenium(I) tricarbonyl aqua complexes with the general formula fac-[Re(CO)3(N,N'-bid)(H2O)][NO3] (1-8), where N,N'-bid is (2,6-dimeth Show more
Eight rhenium(I) tricarbonyl aqua complexes with the general formula fac-[Re(CO)3(N,N'-bid)(H2O)][NO3] (1-8), where N,N'-bid is (2,6-dimethoxypyridyl)imidazo[4,5-f]1,10-phenanthroline (L1), (indole)imidazo[4,5-f]1,10-phenanthroline (L2), (5-methoxyindole)-imidazo[4,5-f]1,10-phenanthroline (L3), (biphenyl)imidazo[4,5-f]1,10-phenanthroline (L4), (fluorene)imidazo[4,5-f]1,10-phenanthroline (L5), (benzo[b]thiophene)imidazo[4,5-f]1,10-phenanthroline (L6), (5-bromothiazole)imidazo[4,5-f]1,10-phenanthroline (L7), and (4,5-dimethylthiophene)imidazo[4,5-f]1,10-phenanthroline (L8), were synthesized and characterized using 1H and 13C{1H} NMR, FT-IR, UV/Vis absorption spectroscopy, and ESI-mass spectrometry, and their purity was confirmed by elemental analysis. The stability of the complexes in aqueous buffer solution (pH 7.4) was confirmed by UV/Vis spectroscopy. The cytotoxicity of the complexes (1-8) was then evaluated on prostate cancer cells (PC3), showing a low nanomolar to low micromolar in vitro cytotoxicity. Worthy of note, three of the Re(I) tricarbonyl complexes showed very low (IC50 = 30-50 nM) cytotoxic activity against PC3 cells and up to 26-fold selectivity over normal human retinal pigment epithelial-1 (RPE-1) cells. The cytotoxicity of both complexes 3 and 6 was lowered under hypoxic conditions in PC3 cells. However, the compounds were still 10 times more active than cisplatin in these conditions. Additional biological experiments were then performed on the most selective complexes (complexes 3 and 6). Cell fractioning experiments followed by ICP-MS studies revealed that 3 and 6 accumulate mostly in the mitochondria and nucleus, respectively. Despite the respective mitochondrial and nuclear localization of 3 and 6, 3 did not trigger the apoptosis pathways for cell killing, whereas 6 can trigger apoptosis but not as a major pathway. Complex 3 induced a paraptosis pathway for cell killing while 6 did not induce any of our other tested pathways, namely, necrosis, paraptosis, and autophagy. Both complexes 3 and 6 were found to be involved in mitochondrial dysfunction and downregulated the ATP production of PC3 cells. To the best of our knowledge, this report presents some of the most cytotoxic Re(I) carbonyl complexes with exceptionally low nanomolar cytotoxic activity toward prostate cancer cells, demonstrating further the future viability of utilizing rhenium in the fight against cancer. Show less
Rhenium(i) di- and tri-carbonyl complexes of the form fac-[Re(CO)3(L,L'-Bid)X] and [Re(CO)2(L,L'-Bid)X2], where X = aqua (H2O), methanol (CH3OH), Show more
Rhenium(i) di- and tri-carbonyl complexes of the form fac-[Re(CO)3(L,L'-Bid)X] and [Re(CO)2(L,L'-Bid)X2], where X = aqua (H2O), methanol (CH3OH), triphenylphosphine (PPh3), 1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane (PTA), tricyclohexylphosphine (PCy3) and L,L'-Bid = O,O' bidentate ligands (tropolone = TropH and 3-hydroxyflavone = FlavH) and N,O bidentate ligands (8-hydroxyquinoline = QuinH, 5,7-chloro-8-hydroxyquinoline = diCl-QuinH and quinoline-2,4-dicarboxylic acid = QuinH2), were synthesized and unambiguously characterized by 1H-, 13C-and 31P-NMR, IR, UV/Vis and micro-analysis. The crystal structures of four complexes, namely fac-[Re(CO)3(QuinH)(H2O)]·H2O (5), fac-[Re(CO)3(Quin)(PPh3)] (11), fac-[Re(CO)3(diCl-Quin)(PPh3)] (12) and [Re(CO)2(Trop)(PPh3)2]·2C6H5CH3 (20) were obtained. Re-P bonding distances for 11 and 12 are 2.4948(8) and 2.4908(8) Å, respectively, indicating the effect of the electron-withdrawing substituents of the diCl-Quin- ligand. The second-order rate constants for the substitutions of methanol at 25.1 °C in fac-[Re(CO)3(L,L'-Bid)(CH3OH)] (L,L'-Bid = Trop, Flav and QuinH) type complexes by different entering phosphine ligands (PPh3, PCy3, and PTA) varied between 7.23(7) × 10-5 and 1.32(3) × 10-3 M-1 s-1 and were found to depend on the coordinated bidentate ligand (in general k1 (QuinH) < k1 (Trop) < k1 (Flav)). The toxicity of fac-[Re(CO)3(QuinH)(PTA)], fac-[Re(CO)3(Trop)(PTA)], fac-[Re(CO)3(Trop)(PPh3)] and fac-[Re(CO)3(Flav)(PPh3)] on the cervical cancer HeLa and epithelial RPE-1 cell lines was then evaluated. Complex fac-[Re(CO)3(Flav)(PPh3)] (16) and fac-[Re(CO)3(Trop)(PPh3)] (13) displayed the highest cytotoxicity with IC50 values of 12.21 ± 0.17 μM and 13.35 ± 0.94 μM, respectively in HeLa cells. Interestingly, a small selectivity towards cancer over non-cancerous cells was observed for these compounds (IC50 = 18.41 ± 3.16 μM and >25 μM in RPE-1 cells). Show less
Ruthenium complexes offer potential reduced toxicity compared to current platinum anticancer drugs. 1,2,3,4-tetrahydrisoquinoline amino alcohol ligands were synthesised, characterised and coordinated Show more
Ruthenium complexes offer potential reduced toxicity compared to current platinum anticancer drugs. 1,2,3,4-tetrahydrisoquinoline amino alcohol ligands were synthesised, characterised and coordinated to an organometallic Ru(II) centre. These complexes were evaluated for activity against the cancer cell lines MCF-7, A549 and MDA-MB-231 as well as for toxicity in the normal cell line MDBK. They were observed to be moderately active against only the MCF-7 cells with the best IC₅₀ value of 34 μM for the cis-diastereomeric complex C4. They also displayed excellent selectivity by being relatively inactive against the normal MDBK cell line with SI values ranging from 2.3 to 7.4. Show less