STOADA · Synthesis of Targeted Organometallic Anticancer Drugs and their mode of Action

The project is designed to study a new class of ruthenium antimetastasis compounds, which provides a flexible scaffold onto which various groups of known biological function can be grafted, in order to identify the mechanism of antimetastasis action and obtain superior compounds. In addition, targets will be identified from these compounds using an innovative bio-analytical method. The generic compound which will be used for the study are based on the general structure, Ru(η6-arene)Cl2(pta), and biologically active groups with known therapeutic function, e.g. that induce cell cycle arrest, will be tethered to the arene ring or attached via the ruthenium centre. Key protein targets will then be identified by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The influence of the inhibitors will be studied and the effect on drug efficacy explored. Drug binding sites will be identified using a mass spectrometric bottom-up or top-down methods which will be very much useful in directing future drug design.