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Molecules
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Metal-Based Drugs: Past, Present and Future II
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Metal-Based Drugs: Past, Present and Future II

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Chemical Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2024) | Viewed by 5526

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Roxana Liana Lucaciu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Pharmaceutical Biochemistry and Clinical Laboratory, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iuliu-Hațieganu” Cluj-Napoca, 4000012 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Interests: anticancer research; drug discovery; metal complexes; natural products; medicinal chemistry; (clinical) biochemistry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Adriana Corina Hangan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iuliu-Hațieganu” Cluj-Napoca, 4000012 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Interests: (bio)inorganic chemistry; biological inorganic chemistry; coordination chemistry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The drug discovery process is a challenging multi-step path towards the identification of potential new medicines. New drugs are needed to prevent a disease, to fight against a pathology or to diagnose a medical condition when there are currently no suitable medical products. The pharmaceutical potential of metals and their derivatives has been recognized for millennia in very different cultures, and with the advent of modern medicine, several metal-based drugs have been approved in clinical treatment as effective therapeutic tools. Indeed, a large variety of metal compounds show significant bioactivity against a range of diseases. For instance, a number of metal complexes have been developed for the treatment/cure of a variety of disorders, such as diabetes, ulcers, inflammatory and cardiovascular diseases, cancers and so on. The study of metal-based drugs represents an important part of modern bioinorganic chemistry. This Special Issue aims to provide a survey of the most recent studies concerning the computational drug discovery, design, synthesis, specific or non-specific carriers (nanoparticles, liposomes, cyclodextrins, etc.), characterization, mechanism of action, pharmacokinetic studies, etc., of new metal drugs. In addition, studies concerning their in vivo/in vitro therapeutic properties, and therefore their possible use in the medical field, for the treatment of different diseases are of great interest.

This Special Issue will cover a selection of recent research and review articles in the field of metal-based drugs used in medicine. Studies without biological activity but whose biological activity is expected are also welcome. We encourage the submission of purely in silico studies, as well as computational studies with experimental validation. It is a pleasure for us to invite you to submit a manuscript to this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Roxana Liana Lucaciu
Prof. Dr. Adriana Corina Hangan
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • metal-based drugs
  • synthesis
  • characterization
  • docking
  • biological activity
  • diagnosis
  • therapeutic tool

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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27 pages, 7556 KiB  
Article
First-Row Transition Metal Complexes Incorporating the 2-(2′-pyridyl)quinoxaline Ligand (pqx), as Potent Inflammatory Mediators: Cytotoxic Properties and Biological Activities against the Platelet-Activating Factor (PAF) and Thrombin
by Antigoni Margariti, Vasiliki D. Papakonstantinou, George M. Stamatakis, Constantinos A. Demopoulos, Christina Machalia, Evangelia Emmanouilidou, Gregor Schnakenburg, Maria-Christina Nika, Nikolaos S. Thomaidis and Athanassios I. Philippopoulos
Molecules 2023, 28(19), 6899; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28196899 - 1 Oct 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1675
Abstract
Inflammatory mediators constitute a recently coined term in the field of metal-based complexes with antiplatelet activities. Our strategy targets Platelet-Activating Factor (PAF) and its receptor, which is the most potent lipid mediator of inflammation. Thus, the antiplatelet (anti-PAF) potency of any substance could [...] Read more.
Inflammatory mediators constitute a recently coined term in the field of metal-based complexes with antiplatelet activities. Our strategy targets Platelet-Activating Factor (PAF) and its receptor, which is the most potent lipid mediator of inflammation. Thus, the antiplatelet (anti-PAF) potency of any substance could be exerted by inhibiting the PAF-induced aggregation in washed rabbit platelets (WRPs), which internationally is a well-accepted methodology. Herein, a series of mononuclear (mer-[Cr(pqx)Cl3(H2O]) (1), [Co(pqx)Cl2(DMF)] (2) (DMF = N,N′-dimethyl formamide), [Cu(pqx)Cl2(DMSO)] (3) (DMSO = dimethyl sulfoxide), [Zn(pqx)Cl2] (4)) and dinuclear complexes ([Mn(pqx)(H2O)2Cl2]2 (5), [Fe(pqx)Cl2]2 (6) and [Ni(pqx)Cl2]2 (7)) incorporating the 2-(2′-pyridyl)quinoxaline ligand (pqx), were biologically evaluated as inhibitors of the PAF- and thrombin-induced aggregation in washed rabbit platelets (WRPs). The molecular structure of the five-co-ordinate analog (3) has been elucidated by single-crystal X-ray diffraction revealing a trigonal bipyramidal geometry. All complexes are potent inhibitors of the PAF-induced aggregation in WRPs in the micromolar range. Complex (6) displayed a remarkable in vitro dual inhibition against PAF and thrombin, with IC50 values of 1.79 μM and 0.46 μM, respectively. Within the series, complex (5) was less effective (IC50 = 39 μM) while complex (1) was almost 12-fold more potent against PAF, as opposed to thrombin-induced aggregation. The biological behavior of complexes 1, 6 and 7 on PAF’s basic metabolic enzymatic pathways reveals that they affect key biosynthetic and catabolic enzymes of PAF underlying the anti-inflammatory properties of the relevant complexes. The in vitro cytotoxic activities of all complexes in HEK293T (human embryonic kidney cells) and HeLa cells (cervical cancer cells) are described via the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The results reveal that complex 3 is the most potent within the series. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Metal-Based Drugs: Past, Present and Future II)
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Review

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30 pages, 3367 KiB  
Review
Metal-Based Drug–DNA Interactions and Analytical Determination Methods
by Adriana Corina Hangan, Luminița Simona Oprean, Lucia Dican, Lucia Maria Procopciuc, Bogdan Sevastre and Roxana Liana Lucaciu
Molecules 2024, 29(18), 4361; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29184361 - 13 Sep 2024
Viewed by 549
Abstract
DNA structure has many potential places where endogenous compounds and xenobiotics can bind. Therefore, xenobiotics bind along the sites of the nucleic acid with the aim of changing its structure, its genetic message, and, implicitly, its functions. Currently, there are several mechanisms known [...] Read more.
DNA structure has many potential places where endogenous compounds and xenobiotics can bind. Therefore, xenobiotics bind along the sites of the nucleic acid with the aim of changing its structure, its genetic message, and, implicitly, its functions. Currently, there are several mechanisms known to be involved in DNA binding. These mechanisms are covalent and non-covalent interactions. The covalent interaction or metal base coordination is an irreversible binding and it is represented by an intra-/interstrand cross-link. The non-covalent interaction is generally a reversible binding and it is represented by intercalation between DNA base pairs, insertion, major and/or minor groove binding, and electrostatic interactions with the sugar phosphate DNA backbone. In the present review, we focus on the types of DNA–metal complex interactions (including some representative examples) and on presenting the methods currently used to study them. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Metal-Based Drugs: Past, Present and Future II)
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35 pages, 7542 KiB  
Review
Recent Advances on Pt-Based Compounds for Theranostic Applications
by Giulia Ferrari, Ines Lopez-Martinez, Thomas Wanek, Claudia Kuntner and Diego Montagner
Molecules 2024, 29(15), 3453; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29153453 - 23 Jul 2024
Viewed by 781
Abstract
Since the discovery of cisplatin’s antitumoral activity and its approval as an anticancer drug, significant efforts have been made to enhance its physiological stability and anticancer efficacy and to reduce its side effects. With the rapid development of targeted and personalized therapies, and [...] Read more.
Since the discovery of cisplatin’s antitumoral activity and its approval as an anticancer drug, significant efforts have been made to enhance its physiological stability and anticancer efficacy and to reduce its side effects. With the rapid development of targeted and personalized therapies, and the promising theranostic approach, platinum drugs have found new opportunities in more sophisticated systems. Theranostic agents combine diagnostic and therapeutic moieties in one scaffold, enabling simultaneous disease monitoring, therapy delivery, response tracking, and treatment efficacy evaluation. In these systems, the platinum core serves as the therapeutic agent, while the functionalized ligand provides diagnostic tools using various imaging techniques. This review aims to highlight the significant role of platinum–based complexes in theranostic applications, and, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first focused contribution on this type of platinum compounds. This review presents a brief introduction to the development of platinum chemotherapeutic drugs, their limitations, and resistance mechanisms. It then describes recent advancements in integrating platinum complexes with diagnostic agents for both tumor treatment and monitoring. The main body is organized into three categories based on imaging techniques: fluorescence, positron emission tomography (PET), single–photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Finally, this review outlines promising strategies and future perspectives in this evolving field. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Metal-Based Drugs: Past, Present and Future II)
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0 pages, 3599 KiB  
Review
Anticancer Metallocenes and Metal Complexes of Transition Elements from Groups 4 to 7
by Irena Kostova
Molecules 2024, 29(4), 824; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29040824 - 11 Feb 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1974
Abstract
With the progression in the field of bioinorganic chemistry, the role of transition metal complexes as the most widely used therapeutics is becoming a more and more attractive research area. The complexes of transition metals possess a great variety of attractive pharmacological properties, [...] Read more.
With the progression in the field of bioinorganic chemistry, the role of transition metal complexes as the most widely used therapeutics is becoming a more and more attractive research area. The complexes of transition metals possess a great variety of attractive pharmacological properties, including anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-infective, etc., activities. Transition metal complexes have proven to be potential alternatives to biologically active organic compounds, especially as antitumor agents. The performance of metal coordination compounds in living systems is anticipated to differ generally from the action of non-metal-containing drugs and may offer unique diagnostic and/or therapeutic opportunities. In this review, the rapid development and application of metallocenes and metal complexes of elements from Groups 4 to 7 in cancer diagnostics and therapy have been summarized. Most of the heavy metals discussed in the current review are newly discovered metals. That is why the use of their metal-based compounds has attracted a lot of attention concerning their organometallic and coordination chemistry. All of this imposes more systematic studies on their biological activity, biocompatibility, and toxicity and presupposes further investigations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Metal-Based Drugs: Past, Present and Future II)
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