Metal-based phosphorus dendrimers as novel nanotherapeutic strategies to tackle cancers: A concise overview

Several metal-based phosphorus dendrimers were prepared. The first series developed by us was the Cu(II) series. In this series, the most potent is the third generation-Cu(II) showing original mechanism of action with activation of the pro-apoptotic Bax protein. To our knowledge, it is the first example of nanoparticles displaying Bax protein activation and then cell death through apoptosis process. Interestingly, this dendritic-Cu(II) complex showed synergistic effect with doxorubicin. Based on these interesting anti-proliferative activities, we developed Au(III)-conjugated phosphorus dendrimers. The most potent is the third generation-Au(III) dendrimer which represents also a new and promising first-in-class anti-proliferative agent against both solid and liquid tumor cell lines. Then, in order to analyze the influence of the metal moiety distribution of Cu(II) and Au(III) on the surface of dendrimers, mix Cu(II)-Au(III)-conjugated phosphorus dendrimers were also prepared and tested as anti-proliferative agents. This article is categorized under: Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Nanomedicine for Oncologic Disease Nanotechnology Approaches to Biology > Nanoscale Systems in Biology.