Fe-salphen complexes from intracellular pH-triggered degradation of Fe3O4@Salphen-InIII CPPs for selectively killing cancer cells.

Xu, Shuai; Liu, Jing; Li, Dian; Wang, Liming; Guo, Jia; Wang, Changchun; Chen, Chunying · Biomaterials · 2014

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

We propose a modular synthetic strategy to constitute metallosalphen prodrugs in the form of coordination polymer nanoparticles, comprising magnetite nanocrystal colloidal cluster as core and salphen-In(III) coordination polymer as shell. These composite nanoparticles are not only equipped with intense photoluminescence, sensitive magnetic responsiveness and pH-dependent degradability, but also serve as prodrugs to accomplish intercellular conversion from non-toxic nanoparticles (Fe3O4@Salphen-In(III)) to pharmacologically active complexes (Fe-salphen), allowing to specifically inhibit the proliferation of A549 cancer cells via caspase activation.

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