Novel half-sandwich iridium OC (carbene)-Complexes: In vitro and in vivo tumor growth suppression and pro-apoptosis via ROS-mediated cross-talk between mitochondria and lysosomes

Herein we present half-sandwich Ir-III complexes [(eta(5)-Cp-xbiph)Ir(O<^>C)Cl] containing O<^>C(NHC)-chelating ligand as anticancer and antimetastasis agents. All the complexes displayed high potency in vitro against a wide range of cancer cells. In addition, Ir2 significantly curb tumor growth in a colon cancer mouse xenograft model in vivo. Further mechanism of action studies indicate that Ir2-initiated apoptosis occurs through ROS-mediated crosstalk between mitochondria and lysosomes.