Metal complexes have been extensively studied for their anti-tumor activity, as well as their potential as radiosensitizers. Although Platinum compounds such as cisplatin and carboplatin are widely used in clinic, their notable side effects have impaired their therapeutic efficacy. At present, ruthenium compounds are attracting extensive attention due to the versatile structure and selective anti-tumor activities. For example, the ruthenium compound NAMI-An and KP 1019 are undergone clinical trials for cancer therapy nowadays.

 Recently, Prof. Yang Jiao group from SKLRMP designed and synthesized a series of ruthenium polypyridyl compounds containing different 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenoline (DIP) ligands as radiosensitizer for pancreatic cancer. In this study, cell experiments showed that ruthenium(II) polypyridyl complexes had broad antitumor effects and strong cytotoxicity against pancreatic cancer cells. Also, ruthenium(II) polypyridyl complexes manifested high quantum yield, large Stokes’ shift and long-lifetime  phosphorescence.In addition, the in vitro and in vivo data showed that ruthenium(II) polypyridyl complexes caused DNA damage by interacting with nucleus DNA, and in turn aggravated the radiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks, thus exerting its radiosensitization effects on pancreatic cancer. This work has been published in Theranostics (Theranostics. 2019, 9(22): 6665-6675), titled as “Luminescent ruthenium(II) polypyridyl complexes acted as radiosensitizer for pancreatic cancer by enhancing radiation-induced DNA damage”.

Link to Paper：http://www.thno.org/v09p6665.htm

Link to Prof. Jiao’ group：http://fyxy.suda.edu.cn/9b/bd/c9127a302013/page.htm