Gold(III) to Ruthenium(III) Metal Exchange in Dithiocarbamato Complexes Tunes Their Biological Mode of Action for Cytotoxicity in Cancer Cells.

Malignant tumors have affected the human being since the pharaoh period, but in the last century the incidence of this disease has increased due to a large number of risk factors, including deleterious lifestyle habits (i.e., smoking) and the higher longevity.

Cu and Au Complexes with Glycoconjugated Dithiocarbamato Ligands for Potential Applications in Targeted Chemotherapy.

This work is focused on the synthesis, characterization, and preliminary biological evaluation of bio-conjugated Au and Cu complexes with the aim of overcoming the well-known side effects of chemotherapy by improving the selective accumulation of an anticancer metal payload in malignant cells. For this purpose, carbohydrates were chosen as targeting agents, exploiting the Warburg effect that accounts for the overexpression of glucose-transporter proteins (in particular GLUTs) in the phospholipid bilayer of most neoplastic cells. We linked the dithiocarbamato moiety to the C1 position of three different monosaccharides: d-glucose, d-galactose, and d-mannose.

Is matching ruthenium with dithiocarbamato ligands a potent chemotherapeutic weapon in oncology?

In the last years, several metal-based compounds have been designed and biologically investigated worldwide in order to obtain chemotherapeutics with a better toxicological profile and comparable or higher antiblastic activity than the clinically-established platinum-based drugs. In this context, researchers have addressed their attention to alternative nonplatinum derivatives able to maximize the anticancer activity of the new drugs and to minimize the side effects. Among them, a number of ruthenium complexes have been developed, including the compounds NAMI-A and KP1019, now in clinical trials.

Gold(III)-pyrrolidinedithiocarbamato Derivatives as Antineoplastic Agents.

Transition metals offer many possibilities in developing potent chemotherapeutic agents. They are endowed with a variety of oxidation states, allowing for the selection of their coordination numbers and geometries via the choice of proper ligands, leading to the tuning of their final biological properties. We report here on the synthesis, physico-chemical characterization, and solution behavior of two gold(III) pyrrolidinedithiocarbamates (PDT), namely [Au(III)Br2(PDT)] and [Au(III)Cl2(PDT)].