Volume 133, Issue 12 pp. 6778-6783
Forschungsartikel

The Discrete Breast Cancer Stem Cell Mammosphere Activity of Group 10-Bis(azadiphosphine) Metal Complexes

Dr. Zhiyin Xiao

Dr. Zhiyin Xiao

School of Chemistry, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK

College of Biological, Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Jiaxing University, Jiaxing, China

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Search for more papers by this author
Dr. Alice Johnson

Dr. Alice Johnson

School of Chemistry, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Search for more papers by this author
Dr. Kuldip Singh

Dr. Kuldip Singh

School of Chemistry, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK

Search for more papers by this author
Dr. Kogularamanan Suntharalingam

Corresponding Author

Dr. Kogularamanan Suntharalingam

School of Chemistry, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK

Search for more papers by this author
First published: 03 December 2020
Citations: 2

Abstract

We report the anti-breast cancer stem cell (CSC) properties of a series of Group 10-bis(azadiphosphine) complexes 13 under exclusively three-dimensional cell culture conditions. The breast CSC mammosphere potency of 13 is dependent on the Group 10 metal present, increasing in the following order: 1 (nickel complex) <2 (palladium complex) <3 (platinum complex). Notably, 3 reduces the formation and size of mammospheres to a greater extent than salinomycin, an established CSC-active compound, or any reported anti-CSC metal complex tested under similar conditions. Mechanistic studies suggest that the most effective complexes 2 and 3 readily penetrate CSC mammospheres, enter CSC nuclei, induce genomic DNA damage, and trigger caspase-dependent apoptosis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to systematically probe the anti-CSC activity of a series of structurally related Group 10 complexes and to be conducted entirely using three-dimensional CSC culture conditions.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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