title: The effect of 1:2 Ag(I) thiocyanate complexes in MCF-7 breast cancer cells.
abstract: There is much interest currently in the design of metal compounds as drugs and various metal compounds are already in clinical use. These include gold(I) compounds such as auranofin and the anti-cancer platinum(II) complex, cisplatin. Bis-chelated gold(I) phosphine complexes have also shown great potential as anticancer agents, however, their efficacy has been limited by their high toxicity. In this study, silver(I) thiocyanate compounds linked to four specific ligands, were synthesized and characterized. These silver-phosphine adducts included [AgSCN{P(4-MeC6H4)3}2]2 (1); [AgSCN{P(4-ClC6H4)3}2]2 (2); [AgSCN{P(4-MeOC6H4)3}2]2 (3); [AgSCN(PPh3)2]2 (4). The compounds were found to be toxic to MCF-7 breast cancer cells while the ligands on their own were not toxic. Our findings further indicate that the silver(I) phosphine compounds induce apoptotic cell death in these breast cancer cells. In addition, the compounds were not toxic to nonmalignant fibroblast cells at the IC50 concentrations. This is an indication that the compounds show selectivity towards the cancer cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University of Johannesburg, PO Box 524, Auckland Park, Johannesburg, 2006, South Africa.
authors.forename: Eloise
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: Appollinaire
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Munyaneza
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Omondi
authors.forename: Reinout
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Meijboom
authors.forename: Marianne J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Cronjé
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000187:drug effects; D016923:Cell Death / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D057809:HEK293 Cells; D006801:Humans; D061986:MCF-7 Cells; D009942:Organometallic Compounds / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010720:Phosphines / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D013861:Thiocyanates / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D010720:Phosphines; D013861:Thiocyanates; D012834:Silver; C044646:phosphine; C031760:thiocyanate