Thiazolium salts 2a-b derived from a dipeptide Boc-Gly-(Thz-Ala)-OMe (1b) containing the nonproteinogenic amino acid L-thiazolylalanine (Thz-Ala) can be used to generate the corresponding N,S-heterocyclic carbene (NSHC) gold(I) (3ab) and silver(I) (4) complexes. Reaction of the NSHC-gold(I) iodide 3b with Boc-Cys-Gly-OMe gives access to the peptide bioconjugate 5, which contains a NSHC-Au-(S-Cys) unit. Compounds 3-5 constitute the first coin metal NSHC-peptide complexes. All new compounds were comprehensively characterized by 1 H, 13 C and 2D-NMR spectroscopy, IR spec-[a] 2517 (B) (C β,ThzAla H 2 ), 41.3 (A) and 40.9 (B) [C α,Gly (dip)H 2 ], 36.8 (B) and 30.3 (A) (C β,Cys H 2 ), 28.3 (C Boc H 3 ) and 16.4 (NCH 2 CH 3 ) ppm. HRMS (ESI + ): m/z calcd. for [M + H] + 860.2268; found: 860.2292.Cell Culture: Jurkat (leukaemia) and MiaPaca2 (pancreatic carcinoma) cell lines were maintained in RPMI 1640, whereas A549 (lung carcinoma) cells were grown in DMEM (Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium). Both media were supplemented with 5 % fetal bovine serum (FBS), 200 U/mL penicillin, 100 μg/mL streptomycin, and 2 mm l-glutamine. Media for A549 cells were also supplemented with 2.2 g/l Na 2 CO 3 , 100 μg/mL pyruvate, and 5 mL nonessential amino acids (Invitrogen). Cell cultures were maintained in a humidified atmosphere of 95 % air/5 % CO 2 at 37°C.
Cytotoxicity Assay by MTT:The MTT assay was used to determine the cell viability as an indicator for the sensitivity of the cells to the complexes. [44] Exponentially growing cells were seeded at a density of approximately 1 ϫ 10 5 cells/mL (A549, MiaPaca2) or 3 ϫ 10 5 cells/mL (Jurkat), in a 96-well flat-bottomed microplate and, after 24 h, they were incubated with the compounds. The complexes were dissolved in DMSO and tested in concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 100 μm and in quadriplicate. Cells were incubated with the test compounds for 24 h at 37°C, then, 10 μL/well of MTT (5 mg/ mL) was added and plates were incubated for 1-3 h at 37°C. Finally, 100 μL/well iPrOH (0.05 m HCl) was added. The optical density was measured at 570 nm using a 96-well multiscanner autoreader (ELISA). The IC 50 was calculated by nonlinear regression analysis using Origin software (Origin Software, Electronic Arts, Redwood City, California, USA).