Luminescent compounds as cancer diagnostics/theranostics.

BACKGROUND: Although luminescent metal complexes of extending aromatic ligands are currently much studied as bioprobes and therapeutic leads the ligands themselves can be of potential interest for such applications. However, as these extended ligands are frequently made of fused polycyclic aromatic rings, they most often display very poor water solubility and so cannot be used with biological systems. The Thomas group have previously reported on the synthesis and DNA binding properties of cationic derivatives of such ligands.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: As these compounds are positively charged they display good water solubility and bind to DNA with high affinities. In this project the cell biology of this class of molecules will be explored and their use as cell probes and therapeutic leads will be assessed. As they bind reversibly to biomolecules, such as DNA , their cytotoxicity will initially be explored.

METHODOLOGY AND NOVELTY: The student will synthesize the compounds through established organic methods. They will then go on to do the cell studies their self. As the compounds described above are luminescent , their uptake and localization will be directly investigated through emission microscopy. The excited state of the compounds is highly tunable , so the possibility of developing derivatives that function as photo-therapeutics in normoxic and hypoxic conditions will also be explored. Thus this project will provide a series of new and novel probes and theranostics based on simple organic architures derived from metal-coordinating ligands.