Copper selective 8-aminoquinoline based tetradentate chelators as anticancer agents

Cancer cell proliferation and metastasis are known to be dependent on angiogenesis which is regulated by several parameters including copper availability. Tetradentate monoquinoline (TDMQ) ligands constitute a series of chelators tailored to regulate copper homeostasis due to their specificity for copper(ii) with respect to Cu(i) or other biometals like iron or zinc. One of these chelators, TDMQ20 efficiently inhibits both proliferation and migration of several human cancer cell lines, better than the reference drug 5-fluorouracil, and with higher selectivity indexes with respect to non-cancer human cells. The biological activity of TDMQ20 may be driven by the coordination chemistry of copper, and the ability of this chelator to restore copper homeostasis and its subsequent redox properties. The anticancer mechanism of action of TDMQ20 involves intracellular production of reactive oxygen species, drastic mitochondrial damages and induction of tumor cell apoptosis. These data support the selection of TDMQ20 as drug-candidate against several human cancers.