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Inorganics
Special Issues
Rational Design of Pharmacologically Active Metal-Based Compounds
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Rational Design of Pharmacologically Active Metal-Based Compounds

A special issue of Inorganics (ISSN 2304-6740). This special issue belongs to the section "Bioinorganic Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2024) | Viewed by 10650

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Irena Kostova

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University, 2 Dunav St., 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria
Interests: bioinorganic chemistry; medicinal chemistry; coordination chemistry; theoretical chemistry; vibrational spectroscopy; drug discovery; pharmacological investigations; biologically active compounds
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Luciano Saso

grade E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Pharmacy and Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
Interests: pharmacology; therapeutic modulators of oxidative stress
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Metal-based biomolecules are involved in vital biochemical processes, being the active sites of metalloproteins, metalloenzymes, metal-containing and metal-binding drugs with a remarkable structural diversity and potential therapeutic and diagnostic applications. In recent years, the unique properties of metal-based compounds have tended to offer advantages in the discovery and development of new drugs. Additionally, the effects of metals can be highly specific and can be modulated to recognize specific metal–macromolecule interactions and to modify a number of properties including the charge, lipophilicity, lability, shapes and redox potentials. Much attention has focused on designing new structures with the desired composition and properties, e.g., coordination complexes, supramolecular structures as well as advanced nanomaterials with improved pharmacological properties and a broader range of activity.

This Special Issue, entitled “Rational design of pharmacologically active metal-based compounds”, focuses on recent advances in this multidisciplinary field with an emphasis on rational design, theoretical, analytical and physicochemical drug discovery strategies, related to biologically relevant applications. The scope of this Issue is to review, critically discuss the current developments and to provide the reader with up-to-date information regarding various aspects of this research area. Original research articles, short communications and reviews highlighting the latest advances in the field will be considered for publication.

Prof. Dr. Irena Kostova
Prof. Dr. Luciano Saso
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Inorganics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • metal-based drugs
  • nanomaterials
  • design and synthetic strategies
  • theoretical and experimental characterization
  • biological evaluation
  • pharmacological properties
  • mechanism of action
  • structure-activity relationship

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 3672 KiB  
Article
Synthesis of an Aryl-Semicarbazone-Based Cu(II) Complex for DNA and BSA Interaction and Anti-Cancer Activity against Human Cervix Uteri Carcinoma
by Ribhu Maity, Biplab Manna, Swapan Maity, Kalyanmoy Jana, Tithi Maity, Mohd Afzal, Nayim Sepay and Bidhan Chandra Samanta
Inorganics 2024, 12(1), 19; https://doi.org/10.3390/inorganics12010019 - 1 Jan 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2156
Abstract
The current study provides an in-depth analysis of the biological properties of a Cu(II) complex (C22H24Cu2N6O10) obtained from an aryl-semicarbazone ligand derived (L) from the condensation of 2,4-dihydroxy acetophenone and semicarbazide. The binding [...] Read more.
The current study provides an in-depth analysis of the biological properties of a Cu(II) complex (C22H24Cu2N6O10) obtained from an aryl-semicarbazone ligand derived (L) from the condensation of 2,4-dihydroxy acetophenone and semicarbazide. The binding behavior of this complex with calf thymus DNA (CT-DNA) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) protein was explored using a combination of experimental and theoretical approaches. The results suggest that the complex binds with CT-DNA via a partial intercalation, and hydrophobic interaction. However, the complex binds to BSA protein predominantly through hydrogen bonding or van der Waals interactions rather than hydrophobic interactions. The molecular docking methodology was carried out to substantiate the experimental finding. Furthermore, the in vitro cytotoxicity study was conducted on human cervix uteri carcinoma (SiHa cancerous cell) lines upon exposure to the complex, and the findings reveal a considerable decrease in cell viability, when compared to the control. Overall, this study provides a comprehensive understanding of the biological potential of the Cu(II) complex and its potential as an anti-cancer agent. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rational Design of Pharmacologically Active Metal-Based Compounds)
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20 pages, 7821 KiB  
Article
A Combination of Ruthenium Complexes and Photosensitizers to Treat Colorectal Cancer
by Jacquie Massoud, Aline Pinon, Manuel Gallardo-Villagrán, Lucie Paulus, Catherine Ouk, Claire Carrion, Sayed Antoun, Mona Diab-Assaf, Bruno Therrien and Bertrand Liagre
Inorganics 2023, 11(12), 451; https://doi.org/10.3390/inorganics11120451 - 22 Nov 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2053
Abstract
Treatment regimens are regularly evolving alongside novel therapies and drugs. Such evolution is necessary to circumvent resistance mechanisms and to give patients the best possible health care. When dealing with cancer, most regimens involve multiple treatments (surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, etc.). The [...] Read more.
Treatment regimens are regularly evolving alongside novel therapies and drugs. Such evolution is necessary to circumvent resistance mechanisms and to give patients the best possible health care. When dealing with cancer, most regimens involve multiple treatments (surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, etc.). The purpose of this study was to associate in a single compound metal-based drugs and photosensitizers to combine chemotherapy and photodynamic therapy. Two arene–ruthenium tetrapyridylporphyrin compounds (2H-TPyP-arene-Ru and Zn-TPyP-arene-Ru) have been synthesized and evaluated on two colorectal cancer cell lines (HCT116 and HT-29). Their cytotoxicity and phototoxicity have been evaluated. In addition, the anticancer mechanism and the cell death process mediated by the two compounds were studied. The results showed that the two arene–ruthenium photosensitizer-containing complexes have a strong phototoxic effect after photoactivation. The 2H-TPyP-arene-Ru complex induced outstanding cytotoxicity when compared to the Zn-TPyP-arene-Ru analogue. Moreover, under light, these two arene–ruthenium photosensitizers induce an apoptotic process in human colorectal cancer cell lines. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rational Design of Pharmacologically Active Metal-Based Compounds)
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Review

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15 pages, 12806 KiB  
Review
Cell Metabolomics to Guide the Design of Metal-Based Compounds
by Veronica Ghini
Inorganics 2024, 12(6), 168; https://doi.org/10.3390/inorganics12060168 - 15 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1021
Abstract
Despite the increasing interest in the development of novel metal-based compounds for cancer treatment, these molecules are currently poorly characterized in mechanistic terms, due to their multiple macromolecular targets inside the cells. In this review, we show how 1H NMR metabolomics provides [...] Read more.
Despite the increasing interest in the development of novel metal-based compounds for cancer treatment, these molecules are currently poorly characterized in mechanistic terms, due to their multiple macromolecular targets inside the cells. In this review, we show how 1H NMR metabolomics provides a powerful tool to investigate the metabolic perturbations induced by metal-compounds in cells. The chemical identity and concentration of metabolites detected in cell lysates and their respective growth media by NMR can be viewed as a global fingerprint that describes the response to drug treatment. In this framework, the applications of NMR-based metabolomics to study cellular effects induced by the treatment of cells with anticancer metal-based compounds are comprehensively reviewed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rational Design of Pharmacologically Active Metal-Based Compounds)
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23 pages, 14000 KiB  
Review
Application of Infrared Free-Electron Laser Irradiation of Protein Complexes Binding to Salen-Type Schiff Base Zn(II) Complexes Using Secondary Conformational Changes in the Proteins for the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease
by Hiroshi Takashima, Daisuke Nakane and Takashiro Akitsu
Inorganics 2024, 12(2), 50; https://doi.org/10.3390/inorganics12020050 - 3 Feb 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2005
Abstract
Alzheimer’s disease causes the destruction of cranial nerve cells and is said to be caused by neuronal cell death due to the accumulation of amyloid-β protein. One method for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease is to reduce the toxicity of the amyloid beta [...] Read more.
Alzheimer’s disease causes the destruction of cranial nerve cells and is said to be caused by neuronal cell death due to the accumulation of amyloid-β protein. One method for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease is to reduce the toxicity of the amyloid beta protein. Among the possibilities is to reduce toxicity by changing the secondary structure of the protein. In this study, the secondary structure of the protein was verified by binding a zinc complex to the protein and irradiating it with an infrared free-electron laser (IR-FEL). By binding Salen-Type zinc complexes to human serum albumin (HSA) and irradiating it with IR-FEL, structural changes were observed in the α-helix and β-sheet, the secondary structure of HSA. In addition to researching the possibility of binding zinc complexes to small proteins, docking simulations were examined. GOLD docking simulations showed that it is possible to bind zinc complexes to lysozyme (Lyz), a small protein. These results suggest that binding zinc complexes to amyloid-β and inducing a secondary conformational change through IR-FEL irradiation could be used for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease by making the complexes lose their toxicity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rational Design of Pharmacologically Active Metal-Based Compounds)
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28 pages, 3165 KiB  
Review
Survey of Main Group Metals and Metalloids in Cancer Treatment
by Irena Kostova
Inorganics 2024, 12(1), 29; https://doi.org/10.3390/inorganics12010029 - 12 Jan 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2468
Abstract
Cancer is one of the leading causes of human death among all major diseases. Metal-based complexes are considered as the most promising vital part in the existing arsenal of cytotoxic candidates used in cancer therapy and diagnostics. The efforts of many scientific groups [...] Read more.
Cancer is one of the leading causes of human death among all major diseases. Metal-based complexes are considered as the most promising vital part in the existing arsenal of cytotoxic candidates used in cancer therapy and diagnostics. The efforts of many scientific groups resulted in the development of numerous metal-based compounds featuring different biologically active organic ligands in order to modulate their bioactivity. Along with the main representatives as potential therapeutic agents, such as the complexes Pt(II)/Pt(IV), Pd(II), Ru(II)/Ru(III), Ag(I), Au(I)/Au(III), Ti(IV), V(IV) and Ga(III), many other transition metal and lanthanide complexes possessing antiproliferative activity are widely discussed in the literature. However, such drugs remain outside the scope of this review. The main purpose of the current study is to review the potential activity of main group metal- and metalloid-based complexes against the most common cancer cell types, such as carcinomas (lung, liver, breast, kidney, gastric, colorectal, bladder, ovarian, cervical, prostate, etc.); sarcomas; blastomas; lymphomas; multiple myeloma; and melanoma. Overcoming the long disregard of organometallic compounds of metals and metalloids from the main groups, a growing number of emerging anticancer agents remarkably prove this field offers an extensive variety of new options for the design of innovative unexplored chemopharmaceutics. Moreover, some of the metal complexes and organometallic compounds from these elements can exhibit entirely different, specific modes of action and biological targets. Obviously, exploitation of their distinct properties deserves more attention. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rational Design of Pharmacologically Active Metal-Based Compounds)
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