Ga(III) complex with morin for kidney cancer cell labelling

Metallophenolomics: A Novel Integrated Approach to Study Complexation of Plant Phenolics with Metal/Metalloid Ions

Plant adaptive strategies have been shaped during evolutionary development in the constant interaction with a plethora of environmental factors, including the presence of metals/metalloids in the environment. Among adaptive reactions against either the excess of trace elements or toxic doses of non-essential elements, their complexation with molecular endogenous ligands, including phenolics, has received increasing attention. Currently, the complexation of phenolics with metal(loid)s is a topic of intensive studies in different scientific fields. In spite of the numerous studies on their chelating capacity, the systemic analysis of phenolics as plant ligands has not been performed yet. Such a systematizing can be performed based on the modern approach of metallomics as an integral biometal science, which in turn has been differentiated into subgroups according to the nature of the bioligands. In this regard, the present review summarizes phenolics–metal(loid)s’ interactions using the metallomic approach. Experimental results on the chelating activity of representative compounds from different phenolic subgroups in vitro and in vivo are systematized. General properties of phenolic ligands and specific properties of anthocyanins are revealed. The novel concept of metallophenolomics is proposed, as a ligand-oriented subgroup of metallomics, which is an integrated approach to study phenolics–metal(loid)s’ complexations. The research subjects of metallophenolomics are outlined according to the methodology of metallomic studies, including mission-oriented biometal sciences (environmental sciences, food sciences and nutrition, medicine, cosmetology, coloration technologies, chemical sciences, material sciences, solar cell sciences). Metallophenolomics opens new prospects to unite multidisciplinary investigations of phenolic–metal(loid) interactions.

Phytochemicals toward Green (Bio)sensing

Because of numerous inherent and unique characteristics of phytochemicals as bioactive compounds derived from plants, they have been widely used as one of the most interesting nature-based compounds in a myriad of fields. Moreover, a wide variety of phytochemicals offer a plethora of fascinating optical and electrochemical features that pave the way toward their development as optical and electrochemical (bio)sensors for clinical/health diagnostics, environmental monitoring, food quality control, and bioimaging. In the current review, we highlight how phytochemicals have been tailored and used for a wide variety of optical and electrochemical (bio)sensing and bioimaging applications, after classifying and introducing them according to their chemical structures. Finally, the current challenges and future directions/perspective on the optical and electrochemical (bio)sensing applications of phytochemicals are discussed with the goal of further expanding their potential applications in (bio)sensing technology. Regarding the advantageous features of phytochemicals as highly promising and potential biomaterials, we envisage that many of the existing chemical-based (bio)sensors will be replaced by phytochemical-based ones in the near future.

Spectroscopic and theoretical study of the pH effect on the optical properties of the calcium-morin system

Morin (2-(2,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-3,5,7-trihydroxychromen-4-one) is an abundant flavonoid with various pharmacological and biological activities. Considering the ubiquitous presence of calcium cations in biological systems, it seems relevant to study the interaction of this ion with morin and the influence of pH on this system. In a first step, among the four hypothetical chelation sites, the preferential fixing site, its protonation state and the Ca environment have been determined by combining electronic spectroscopies and density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT calculations. Then, using the same methodology, the fate of the formed complex with the variation of pH was studied. Calcium chelation occurs with the 3-hydroxy-4-keto site with deprotonation of the hydroxyl group. The coordination number of Ca^II does not seem to be a determining parameter insofar whatever the number of solvent molecules present in the coordination sphere of the metal, the calculation of the electronic transitions leads to the same results. With the increase in pH, a first deprotonation of the complex occurs at the level of a solvent molecule in the metal coordination sphere, followed by a deprotonation of the hydroxyl function in position 7.