Researchers from the University of Malta, Alex Johnson, PhD candidate, Professor Joseph Buhagiar and Professor David Magri have had their research paper, published in the journal RSC Medicinal Chemistry, highlighted on the world’s leading source for medical research news, Medicine Innovates.
Medicine Innovates is a Canadian non-profit organization established in 2010 with a mission to disseminate medical knowledge with the aim of preventing disease and promoting the health of populations worldwide. The criteria for selection of articles are findings of exceptional significance of the highest quality research chosen without regard for the impact factor of the published journal or the place of publication.
The research was a collaborative effort by the Department of Chemistry (Prof. Magri) and the Department of Biology (Prof. Buhagiar) within the Faculty of Science by Alex Johnson during a Master of Science project.
Eight hybrid molecules consisting of ferrocene and 4-amino-1, 8-naphthalimide were tested in two cancer cell lines. The activity of the drug conjugates were demonstrated against myelogenous leukemia and human breast cancer cells using a colorimetric assay. The authors hypothesised that the ferrocene group might promote destructive free radical chemistry, which in turn would have a synergistic cytotoxic effect on the cancerous cells by damaging the DNA while the naphthalimide group hinders the activity of topoisomerase enzymes, which is involved in DNA replication and transcription. Furthermore, compounds that were not cytotoxic to either the human breast cancer or myelogenous leukemia cell lines within a 24 hour incubation period were proposed as cellular imaging agents (see image).
Alex D. Johnson, Joseph A. Buhagiar and David C. Magri, 4-Amino-1,8-Naphthalimide-Ferrocene Conjugates as Potential Multi-targeted Anticancer and Fluorescent Cellular Imaging Agents, RSC Medicinal Chemistry, 2021, 12, 2060-2064.
The article is featured online at the
Article citation .
The graphical abstract and link to the .
Fluorescent microscope image of MCF-7 breast cancer cells after 24 hours incubation period with a drug conjugate. Scale bar of 50 uM. Reproduced with permission of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC).
