Volume 137, Issue 30 e202504524
Forschungsartikel

Au6Cu2 Clusters with High Electron Affinity and Oxygen-Mimetic Properties for Hypoxic Tumor Radiosensitization

Dr. Xueli Zhao

Dr. Xueli Zhao

Tianjian Laboratory of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Metabolic Dysregulation & Prevention and Treatment of Esophageal Cancer, Henan International Joint Laboratory of Tumor Theranostic Cluster Materials, College of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China

Both authors contributed equally to this work.

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Jingpeng Han

Jingpeng Han

Tianjian Laboratory of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Metabolic Dysregulation & Prevention and Treatment of Esophageal Cancer, Henan International Joint Laboratory of Tumor Theranostic Cluster Materials, College of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China

Both authors contributed equally to this work.

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Dr. Junqi Liu

Dr. Junqi Liu

The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450000 China

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Prof. Zhao-Yang Wang

Prof. Zhao-Yang Wang

Tianjian Laboratory of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Metabolic Dysregulation & Prevention and Treatment of Esophageal Cancer, Henan International Joint Laboratory of Tumor Theranostic Cluster Materials, College of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China

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Prof. Xiaoyuan Chen

Corresponding Author

Prof. Xiaoyuan Chen

Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 119074 Singapore

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, College of Design and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117575 Singapore

Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Design and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117575 Singapore

Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Science, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117544 Singapore

Clinical Imaging Research Centre, Centre for Translational Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117599 Singapore

Nanomedicine Translational Research Program, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117597 Singapore

Theranostics Center of Excellence (TCE), Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 138667 Singapore

Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, 138673 Singapore

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

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Prof. Shuang-Quan Zang

Corresponding Author

Prof. Shuang-Quan Zang

Tianjian Laboratory of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Metabolic Dysregulation & Prevention and Treatment of Esophageal Cancer, Henan International Joint Laboratory of Tumor Theranostic Cluster Materials, College of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

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First published: 19 May 2025

Abstract

Hypoxia-induced radioresistance primarily contributes to the failure of radiotherapy because it hinders the effective fixation of DNA damage. Despite the considerable antitumor activity of chemical molecules such as electron-affinic nitroimidazoles affirmed by clinical studies, their dose-dependent side effects and low radiotherapy efficacy have become major drawbacks. In this study, we synthesized nitrobenzene-functionalized Au6Cu2 (NO2-Au6Cu2) clusters, integrating metal clusters with chemical radiosensitizers. The ligand 4-nitrophenylacetylene's hypoxia-selective toxicity arises from reductase-mediated radical generation under hypoxia, depleting GSH and compromising radiotherapy ROS clearance. Our findings indicate that the electron affinity of interfacial ligands has a significant effect on the electron affinity and hypoxic cytotoxicity of metal clusters. Experimental results demonstrated that NO2-Au6Cu2 clusters exhibit a high sensitization enhancement ratio by leveraging the properties of gold clusters to augment radiotherapy and the oxygen-mimetic property of chemical molecules to impair DNA repair pathways. This research introduces a novel strategy for developing highly efficient metal cluster-based hypoxic radiosensitizers.

Conflict of Interests

X.C. is a co-founder of and holds shares in Yantai Lannacheng Biotechnology Co., Ltd.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available in the Supporting Information of this article.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.