Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 3, 2026
Synthesis and Evaluation of a Ruthenium-based Mitochondrial Calcium Uptake Inhibitor
Published on: October 26, 2017
Synthesis, Characterization, and Inducing Tumor Cell Apoptosis of Two Ru(II) Complexes Containing Guanidinium as
Jing Sun1,2, Wen-Xiu Chen1,3, Xing-Dong Song1
1School of Pharmacy, Guangdong Medical University, Dongguan, 523808, China.
Description:
Two new ruthenium(II) complexes containing guanidinium as ligands, [Ru(dip)2 (L1)]3+ (Ru1) and [Ru(dip)2(L2)]3+ (Ru2) (dip=4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline; L1=1-(4-(1H-imidazo[4,5- f][1,10]phenanthrolin-2-yl)phenyl)guanidine cation; L2 = 1-(3-(1H-imidazo[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthrolin-2-yl) phenyl)guanidine cation) have been synthesized and characterized. Both complexes display higher cytotoxicity against several cancer cell lines compared to cisplatin and are less cytotoxic on the nontumorigenic cell line LO2. Intracellular distribution studies show that these complexes are selectively localized in the cytoplasm.
Findings:
Further analysis revealed that Ru1 and Ru2 had no obvious effects on the cell cycle and induced apoptosis in HeLa cells via the mitochondrial pathway, which involved reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and Bcl-2 family member activation. Taken together, the two complexes have the potential to be utilized as anticancer agents.
