Publications by authors named "Monize M Silva"

Glyphosate (Glyp), a widely used herbicide, has raised significant concerns regarding its toxicological effects and potential risks to human health, particularly concerning water pollution. Hence, there is a critical need to monitor glyphosate levels in water bodies. This study introduces a novel approach for electrochemically detecting glyphosate in aqueous environments using crumpled graphene decorated with nickel-based nanoparticles (Ni:CG) synthesized in a single step.

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Developing thin, freestanding electrodes that work simultaneously as a current collector and electroactive material is pivotal to integrating portable and wearable chemical sensors. Herein, we have synthesized graphene/Prussian blue (PB) electrodes for hydrogen peroxide detection (HO) using a two-step method. First, an reduced graphene oxide/PAni/FeO freestanding film is prepared using a doctor blade technique, followed by the electrochemical deposition of PB nanoparticles over the films.

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Hepatic cancer is one of the main causes of cancer-related death worldwide. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a unique subset of cancer cells that promote tumour growth, maintenance, and therapeutic resistance, leading to recurrence. In the present work, the ability of a ruthenium complex containing 1,3-thiazolidine-2-thione (RCT), with the chemical formula [Ru(tzdt)(bipy)(dppb)]PF, to inhibit hepatic CSCs was explored in human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells.

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Melanoma is the most aggressive and lethal type of skin cancer due to its characteristics such as high metastatic potential and low response rate to existing treatment modalities. In this way, new drug prototypes are being studied to solve the problem of treating patients with melanoma. Among these, ruthenium-based metallopharmaceuticals may be promising alternatives due to their antitumor characteristics and low systemic toxicity.

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Ruthenium(II) complexes (-), with the general formula [Ru(N-S)(dppe)]PF, bearing two 1,2-(diphenylphosphino)ethane (dppe) ligands and a series of mercapto ligands (N-S), have been developed. The combination of these ligands in the complexes endowed hydrophobic species with high cytotoxic activity against five cancer cell lines. For the A549 (lung) and MDA-MB-231 (breast) cancer cell lines, the IC values of the complexes were 288- to 14-fold lower when compared to cisplatin.

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New palladium complexes with thiosemicarbazonate ligands derived from pyrene exhibit potent antiproliferative activity against A2780 and cisplatin-resistant A2780Cis human ovarian cancer cells, which is dependent on substituent groups of the thiosemicarbazone ligands. Cellular accumulation and distribution studies confirmed that palladium enters the cell nucleus. DNA and topoisomerase IB studies show that one complex is a potent TopIB inhibitor, with selectivity for cancer versus normal cells.

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Herein we discuss five ruthenium(ii) complexes with good cytotoxicity against cancer cells. These complexes are named [Ru(tzdt)(bipy)(dppb)]PF6 (1), [Ru(mmi)(bipy)(dppb)]PF6 (2), [Ru(dmp)(bipy)(dppb)]PF6 (3), [Ru(mpca)(bipy)(dppb)]PF6 (4) and [Ru(2mq)(bipy)(dppb)]PF6 (5), where tzdt = 1,3-thiazolidine-2-thione, mmi = mercapto-1-methyl-imidazole, dmp = 4,6-diamino-2-mercaptopyrimidine, mpca = 6-mercaptopyridine-3-carboxylic acid, 2mq = 2-mercapto-4(3H)-quinazolinone, bipy = 2,2'-bipyridine and dppb = 1,4-bis(diphenylphosphino)butane. In vitro cell culture experiments revealed significant cytotoxic activity for 1-5 against MDA-MB-231, MCF-7, A549, DU-145 and HepG2 tumor cells, higher than that for the standard anticancer drug cisplatin.

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Herein, ruthenium complexes containing heterocyclic thioamidates [Ru(mmi)(bipy)(dppb)]PF (), [Ru(tzdt)(bipy)(dppb)]PF (), [Ru(dmp)(bipy)(dppb)]PF () and [Ru(mpca)(bipy)(dppb)]PF () were investigated for their cellular and molecular effects in cancer cell lines. Complexes and were the most potent of the four compounds against a panel of different cancer cell lines in monolayer cultures and showed potent cytotoxicity in a 3D model of multicellular spheroids that formed from human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells. In addition, both complexes were able to bind to DNA in a calf thymus DNA model.

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In this paper, four new ruthenium complexes, [Ru(N-S)(dppm)2]PF6 (1), [Ru(N-S)(dppe)2]PF6 (2), [Ru(N-S)2(dppp)] (3) and [Ru(N-S)2(PPh3)2] (4) [dppm = 1,1-bis(diphenylphosphino)methane, dppe = 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane, dppp = 1,3-bis(diphenylphosphino)propane, PPh3 = triphenylphosphine and N-S = 2-mercaptopyrimidine anion] were synthesized and characterized using spectroscopy techniques, molar conductance, elemental analysis, electrochemical techniques and X-ray diffraction. The DNA binding studies were investigated using voltammetry and spectroscopy techniques. The results show that all complexes exhibit a weak interaction with DNA.

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Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious, airborne disease caused by the bacterium that mainly affects the lungs. Fortunately, tuberculosis is a curable disease, and in recent years, death rates for this disease have decreased. However, the existence of antibiotic-resistant strains and the occurrence of co-infections with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), have led to increased mortality in recent years.

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Due to their unique and versatile biochemical properties, ruthenium-based compounds have emerged as promising anticancer agents. Previous studies showed that three ruthenium(II) compounds: [Ru(pySH)(bipy)(dppb)]PF (1), [Ru(HSpym)(bipy)(dppb)]PF (2) and Ru[(SpymMe)(bipy)(dppb)]PF (3) presented anticancer properties higher than doxorubicin and cisplatin and acted as human topoisomerase IB (Topo I) inhibitors. Here, we focused our studies on in vitro intestinal permeability and anticancer mechanisms of these three complexes.

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The aim of this work was the synthesis, characterization, and cytotoxicity evaluation of three new Ru(II) complexes with a general formula [Ru(Spy)(bipy)(P-P)]PF [Spy = pyridine-6-thiolate; bipy = 2,2'-bipyridine; P-P = 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphine)ethane (1); 1,3-bis(diphenylphosphine) propane (2); and 1,1'-bis(diphenylphosphino)ferrocene] (4). Complex (3) with the 1,4-bis(diphenylphosphine)butane ligand, already known from the literature, was also synthesized, to be better studied here. The cytotoxicities of the complexes toward two kinds of cancerous cells (K562 and S-180 cells) were evaluated and compared to normal cells (L-929 and PBMC) by MTT assay.

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Three ruthenium(II) phosphine/diimine/picolinate complexes were selected aimed at investigating anticancer activity against several cancer cell lines and the capacity of inhibiting the supercoiled DNA relaxation mediated by human topoisomerase IB (Top 1). The structure-lipophilicity relationship in membrane permeability using the Caco-2 cells have also been evaluated in this study. SCAR 5 was found to present 45 times more cytotoxicity against breast cancer cell when compared to cisplatin.

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Tuberculosis is a top infectious disease killer worldwide, caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Increasing incidences of multiple drug-resistance (MDR) strains are emerging as one of the major public health threats. However, the drugs in use are still incapable of controlling the appalling upsurge of MDR.

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Three new mixed and mononuclear Ru(II) complexes containing 1,3-thiazolidine-2-thione (tzdtH) were synthesized and characterized by spectroscopic analysis, molar conductivity, cyclic voltammetry, high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectra and X-ray diffraction. The complexes presented unique stereochemistry and the proposed formulae are: [Ru(tzdt)(bipy)(dppb)]PF6 (1), cis-[Ru(tzdt)2(PPh3)2] (2) and trans-[Ru(tzdt)(PPh3)2(bipy)]PF6 (3), where dppb=1,4-bis(diphenylphosphino)butane and bipy=2,2'-bipyridine. These complexes demonstrated strong cytotoxicity against cancer cell lines when compared to cisplatin.

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Herein we synthesized two new ruthenium(II) compounds [Ru(pySH)(bipy)(dppb)]PF6 (1) and [Ru(HSpym)(bipy)(dppb)]PF6 (2) that are analogs to an antitumor agent recently described, [Ru(SpymMe2)(bipy)(dppb)]PF6 (3), where [(Spy) = 2-mercaptopyridine anion; (Spym) = 2-mercaptopyrimidine anion and (SpymMe2) = 4,6-dimethyl-2-mercaptopyrimidine anion]. In vitro cell culture experiments revealed significant anti-proliferative activity for 1-3 against HepG2 and MDA-MB-231 tumor cells, higher than the standard anti-cancer drugs doxorubicin and cisplatin. No mutagenicity is detected when compounds are evaluated by cytokinesis-blocked micronucleus cytome and Ames test in the presence and absence of S9 metabolic activation from rat liver.

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cis-[RuCl(NO2)(dppb)(5,5'-mebipy)] (complex 1), cis-[Ru(NO2)2(dppb)(5,5'-mebipy)] (complex 2), ct-[RuCl(NO)(dppb)(5,5'-mebipy)](PF6)2 (complex 3), and cc-[RuCl(NO)(dppb)(5,5'-mebipy)](PF6)2 (complex 4), where 5,5'-mebipy is 5,5'-dimethyl-2,2'-bipyridine and dppb is 1,4-bis(diphenylphosphino)butane, were synthesized and characterized. The structure of complex 2 was determined by X-ray crystallography. These complexes exhibited a higher anti-Trypanosoma cruzi activity than benznidazole, the current antiparasitic drug.

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Tuberculosis is an ancient disease that is still present as a global public health problem. Our group has been investigating new molecules with anti-TB activity. In this context, inorganic chemistry has been a quite promising source of such molecules, with excellent results seen with ruthenium compounds.

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