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Rational design of multi-targeting ruthenium- and platinum-based anticancer complexes

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Abstract

Platinum-based anticancer drugs, including cisplatin and its analogues, have played important roles in the clinical treatment of solid tumors over the past 38 years. However, poor selectivity, high toxicity and intrinsic or acquired drug resistance profoundly limit their application, which encourages the development of novel transition metal-based anticancer agents with different mechanisms of action. To this end, transition metal complexes that can simultaneously act on more than one target, termed as single-molecule multi-targeting complexes, have attracted increasing attention because of their enhanced efficacy and diminished chance of drug resistance. In this review, we systematically discuss the recent progress in the development of platinum- and ruthenium-based anticancer agents, in particular the rational design of platinum and ruthenium complexes with multi-targeting features.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences; CAS Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Living Biosystems; National Centre for Mass Spectrometry in Beijing; Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China

    Wei Zheng, Yao Zhao, Qun Luo, Yang Zhang, Kui Wu & Fuyi Wang

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Wei Zheng, Yao Zhao, Qun Luo, Yang Zhang, Kui Wu & Fuyi Wang

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  1. Wei Zheng
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  2. Yao Zhao
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  3. Qun Luo
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  4. Yang Zhang
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  5. Kui Wu
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  6. Fuyi Wang
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Correspondence to Yao Zhao or Fuyi Wang.

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Zheng, W., Zhao, Y., Luo, Q. et al. Rational design of multi-targeting ruthenium- and platinum-based anticancer complexes. Sci. China Chem. 59, 1240–1249 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-016-0178-7

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