Anticancer Screening of Ru(II) Photoredox Catalysts at Single Cancer Cell Level

The rapid efflux of Pt-based chemotherapeutics by cancer cells is one of the major causes of drug resistance in clinically available drugs. Therefore, both the high cellular uptake as well as adequate retention efficiency of an anticancer agent are important factors to overcome drug resistance. Unfortunately, rapid and efficient quantification of metallic drug concentration in individual cancer cells still remains a tricky problem. Herein, with the help of newly developed single cell inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (SC-ICP-MS), we have found that the well-known Ru(II)-based complex, Ru3, displayed remarkable intracellular uptake and retention efficiency in every single cancer cell with high photocatalytic therapeutic activity to overcome cisplatin resistance. Moreover, Ru3 has shown sensational photocatalytic anticancer properties with excellent in-vitro and in-vivo biocompatibility under light exposure.

Automated summary

The rapid efflux of Pt-based chemotherapeutics by cancer cells is a major cause of drug resistance. To overcome this, high cellular uptake and adequate retention efficiency of an anticancer agent are important. However, quantifying metallic drug concentration in individual cancer cells remains challenging. In this study, using newly developed single cell inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (SC-ICP-MS), it was found that Ru(II)-based complex Ru3 had remarkable intracellular uptake and retention efficiency in every single cancer cell, and showed high photocatalytic therapeutic activity to overcome cisplatin resistance. Additionally, Ru3 exhibited excellent in-vitro and in-vivo biocompatibility with sensational photocatalytic anticancer properties under light exposure.