Curcumin has chemopreventive properties against a variety of tumours, but it has poor bioavailability. Two new bis-cyclometallated iridium(III) complexes have been prepared, featuring the natural product curcumin (CUR) or its reduced form, tetrahydrocurcumin (THC), as bidentate, anionic O^O-binding ligands. The iridium THC complex is highly luminescent in deoxygenated solution and efficiently generates singlet oxygen under aerated conditions, whereas in the curcumin analogue, other non-radiative decay pathways are competitive. The complexes are rapidly taken up into a variety of human tumour cell lines from solutions of micromolar concentration. They have negligible cytotoxicity in the absence of irradiation. When briefly irradiated by visible light, Ir-THC becomes highly phototoxic, inducing rapid apoptosis within 2 h. The results show the high potential of such complexes as sensitizers in photodynamic therapy (PDT).

A highly luminescent tetrahydrocurcumin Ir(III) complex with remarkable photoactivated anticancer activity / A. Colombo, M. Fontani, C. Dragonetti, D. Roberto, J.A.G. Williams, R. Scotto di Perrotolo, F. Casagrande, S. Barozzi, S. Polo. - In: CHEMISTRY-A EUROPEAN JOURNAL. - ISSN 0947-6539. - 25:33(2019 Jun 12), pp. 7948-7952. [10.1002/chem.201901527]

A highly luminescent tetrahydrocurcumin Ir(III) complex with remarkable photoactivated anticancer activity

A. Colombo
Primo
;
M. Fontani
Secondo
;
C. Dragonetti
;
D. Roberto;S. Polo
Ultimo
2019

Abstract

Curcumin has chemopreventive properties against a variety of tumours, but it has poor bioavailability. Two new bis-cyclometallated iridium(III) complexes have been prepared, featuring the natural product curcumin (CUR) or its reduced form, tetrahydrocurcumin (THC), as bidentate, anionic O^O-binding ligands. The iridium THC complex is highly luminescent in deoxygenated solution and efficiently generates singlet oxygen under aerated conditions, whereas in the curcumin analogue, other non-radiative decay pathways are competitive. The complexes are rapidly taken up into a variety of human tumour cell lines from solutions of micromolar concentration. They have negligible cytotoxicity in the absence of irradiation. When briefly irradiated by visible light, Ir-THC becomes highly phototoxic, inducing rapid apoptosis within 2 h. The results show the high potential of such complexes as sensitizers in photodynamic therapy (PDT).
Iridium complexes; anticancer agent; curcumin; photodynamic therapy; tetrahydrocurcumin
Settore MED/04 - Patologia Generale
Settore CHIM/03 - Chimica Generale e Inorganica
12-giu-2019
15-apr-2019
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/641473
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