Synthesis of PEGylated Ferrocene Nanoconjugates as the Radiosensitizer of Cancer Cells

Abstract

Radiation is one of the most widely used methods for cancer diagnosis and therapy. Herein, we report a new type of radiation sensitizer (Fc-PEG) by a facile one-step reaction of conjugating the hydrophilic PEG chain with hydrophobic ferrocene molecule. The chemical composition and structure of Fc-PEG have been thoroughly characterized by FT-IR, NMR, GPC, and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. This Fc-PEG conjugate could self-assemble in aqueous solution into spherical aggregates, and it was found that the exposure to 4 Gy of X-ray radiation have little influence on the shape and size of these aggregates. After the chemical bonding with PEG chains, the uptake level of Fe element could be enhanced via the formation of aggregates. The live/dead, CCK-8, as well as apoptosis assays, indicated that the death of cancer cells can be obviously increased by X-ray radiation after the incubation of these Fc-based nanoconjugates, which might be served as the radiation sensitizer toward cancer cells. We suggest that this radiosensitizing effect comes from the enhancement of reactive oxygen specimen (ROS) level as denoted by both flow cytometric and fluorescence microscopic analysis. The enhanced radiation sensitivity of cancer cells is contributed by the synergic effect of Fe-induced radiation-sensitizing and the increased uptake of nanoconjugates after polymeric grafting.

Membrane destruction-mediated antibacterial activity of tungsten disulfide (WS2)

“…43,44 Briey, 25 mL 0.1 mM DCFH-DA was treated with 100 mL 0.01 N NaOH for 1 h to generate DCFH, followed by adding 375 mL 0.1 M PBS to terminate this reaction. Next, the WS 2 nanosheet samples were added to make the nal concentrations: 0, 25, 50, 100 and 200 mg mL À1 .…”

Palladium(II)‐Catalyzed Enantioselective C−H Alkenylation of Ferrocenecarboxylic Acid

“…However, ferrocenyl carboxylic acid as starting material has rarely been studied . Due to ferrocenecarboxylic acid with excellent redox properties and widely used in electrochemical, redox probes, and peptide chain modifications, and with antibacterial, antineoplastic and anticancer activities, and our ongoing efforts to build clean C−H bond functionalizations, we herein explore Pd(II)‐catalyzed enantioselective C−H alkenylation of ferrocenecarboxylic acid using chiral amino acid as ligand, oxygen as an oxidant. A series of 2‐alkenylferrocene carboxylic acids with planar chirality were obtained under mild reaction conditions.…”

Synthesis and properties of m‐ferrocenylbenzoylthiadiazole derivatives

“…Moreover, ferrocene has low toxicity and high lipophilicity in vivo . Chemists hope to introduce other molecular groups to the ferrocenyl system to obtain new compounds with desired properties .…”