IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v6y2015i1d10.1038_ncomms7582.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Transfer hydrogenation catalysis in cells as a new approach to anticancer drug design

Author

Listed:
  • Joan J. Soldevila-Barreda

    (University of Warwick)

  • Isolda Romero-Canelón

    (University of Warwick)

  • Abraha Habtemariam

    (University of Warwick)

  • Peter J. Sadler

    (University of Warwick)

Abstract

Organometallic complexes are effective hydrogenation catalysts for organic reactions. For example, Noyori-type ruthenium complexes catalyse reduction of ketones by transfer of hydride from formate. Here we show that such catalytic reactions can be achieved in cancer cells, offering a new strategy for the design of safe metal-based anticancer drugs. The activity of ruthenium(II) sulfonamido ethyleneamine complexes towards human ovarian cancer cells is enhanced by up to 50 × in the presence of low non-toxic doses of formate. The extent of conversion of coenzyme NAD+ to NADH in cells is dependent on formate concentration. This novel reductive stress mechanism of cell death does not involve apoptosis or perturbation of mitochondrial membrane potentials. In contrast, iridium cyclopentadienyl catalysts cause cancer cell death by oxidative stress. Organometallic complexes therefore have an extraordinary ability to modulate the redox status of cancer cells.

Suggested Citation

  • Joan J. Soldevila-Barreda & Isolda Romero-Canelón & Abraha Habtemariam & Peter J. Sadler, 2015. "Transfer hydrogenation catalysis in cells as a new approach to anticancer drug design," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 6(1), pages 1-9, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:6:y:2015:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms7582
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms7582
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms7582
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/ncomms7582?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Feng Gao & Guangyu Liu & Aobo Chen & Yangguang Hu & Huihui Wang & Jiangyuan Pan & Jinglei Feng & Hongwei Zhang & Yujie Wang & Yuanzeng Min & Chao Gao & Yujie Xiong, 2023. "Artificial photosynthetic cells with biotic–abiotic hybrid energy modules for customized CO2 conversion," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:6:y:2015:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms7582. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.