Issue 39, 2023

Pt(ii) and Pt(iv) complexes with a major component of royal jelly as innovative antitumor drug candidates

Abstract

Platinum-based drugs, such as cisplatin, are clinically used for the treatment of many solid tumors with great success; however, outcomes are limited by the toxicity and resistance of some tumors. Recently, the interest towards the use of natural products as anti-cancer drugs has grown worldwide since they are easily available and relatively safe. In particular, the main and distinctive fatty acid in royal jelly, trans-10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA), has been demonstrated to have anti-tumor, immunomodulatory, collagen promoting, and antimelanogenesis properties. Thus, in this study, we aimed to combine the 10-HDA functionality with a platinum moiety. The first compounds that we isolated were: [Pt(O-10-HDA)2(1R,2R-DACH)] (1; DACH = diaminocyclohexane), which can be considered a multifunctional prodrug analog of oxaliplatin in which the oxalate has been substituted with two carboxylate-bonded 10-HDA ligands, and the organometallic complex [Pt(O,C-10-HDA)(1R,2R-DACH)] (2) in which a single 10-HDA ligand coordinates to Pt through both a carboxylate oxygen and the deprotonated C(3) vinylic carbon. Cyclometalated complexes with a σ (Pt-C) bond have also proven to be endowed with relevant anticancer activity. Our investigation has also been extended to the Pt(IV) derivatives of 2, trans-[Pt(OH)2(O,C-10-HDA)(1R,2R-DACH)] and trans-[Pt(BzO)2(O,C-10-BzODA)(1R,2R-DACH)] (10-BzODA = benzoate in place of the hydroxyl group in 10-HDA), having in the axial position either two hydroxido or two benzoato ligands (3 and 4, respectively). For comparison, analogues of compounds 2, 3, and 4 having ethylenediamine in place of diaminocyclohexane as the carrier ligand (compounds 2a, 3a, and 4a, respectively) were also synthesized. All compounds were fully characterized by elemental analysis, ESI-MS, and NMR spectroscopy. The mechanism of formation of complexes 1 and 2 was also investigated by solution NMR. Finally, as a preliminary investigation, the in vitro cytotoxicity of the new Pt(II) and Pt(IV) compounds was tested against a panel of human tumor cell lines. Interestingly, the Pt(IV) benzoate derivatives 4 and 4a showed discrete activity against most of the tested tumor cell lines while the metallate complex 2 was found to be more active than cisplatin and oxaliplatin only against the pancreatic tumor cell line PSN-1.

Graphical abstract: Pt(ii) and Pt(iv) complexes with a major component of royal jelly as innovative antitumor drug candidates

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
02 Aug 2023
Accepted
07 Sep 2023
First published
07 Sep 2023

New J. Chem., 2023,47, 18386-18399

Pt(II) and Pt(IV) complexes with a major component of royal jelly as innovative antitumor drug candidates

A. Barbanente, V. Gandin, C. Donati, C. I. Pierro, G. Natile and N. Margiotta, New J. Chem., 2023, 47, 18386 DOI: 10.1039/D3NJ03617K

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