Synthesis, Biological Activity and QSAR Studies of Organotin(IV) and Organosilicon(IV) Complexes

Liposomal Formulations of Metallodrugs for Cancer Therapy

The search for new antineoplastic agents is imperative, as cancer remains one of the most preeminent causes of death worldwide. Since the discovery of the therapeutic potential of cisplatin, the study of metallodrugs in cancer chemotherapy acquired increasing interest. Starting from cisplatin derivatives, such as oxaliplatin and carboplatin, in the last years, different compounds were explored, employing different metal centers such as iron, ruthenium, gold, and palladium. Nonetheless, metallodrugs face several drawbacks, such as low water solubility, rapid clearance, and possible side toxicity. Encapsulation has emerged as a promising strategy to overcome these issues, providing both improved biocompatibility and protection of the payload from possible degradation in the biological environment. In this respect, liposomes, which are spherical vesicles characterized by an aqueous core surrounded by lipid bilayers, have proven to be ideal candidates due to their versatility. In fact, they can encapsulate both hydrophilic and hydrophobic drugs, are biocompatible, and their properties can be tuned to improve the selective delivery to tumour sites exploiting both passive and active targeting. In this review, we report the most recent findings on liposomal formulations of metallodrugs, with a focus on encapsulation techniques and the obtained biological results.

Exploring the antimalarial and antioxidant efficacy of transition metal(II) chelates of thiosemicarbazone ligands: spectral investigations, molecular docking, DFT, MESP and ADMET

Malaria, a relentless and ancient adversary, continues to cast its shadow over vast swathes of the globe, afflicting millions of people and have a heavy toll on human health and well-being. Despite substantial progress in the fight against this parasitic disease in recent decades, malaria still persists as a substantial global health concern, especially in some specific region which have limited resources and vulnerable populations. Thus, to ascertain an combating agent for malaria and its associated dysfunction, 4-(4-ethylphenyl)-3-thiosemicarbazide and benzaldehydes based two new thiosemicarbazone ligands (1-2) and their cobalt(II), nickel(II), copper(II), zinc(II) metal complexes (3-10) were synthesized in the present research work. The synthesized compounds were comprehensive characterized through spectral and physical investigations, demonstrating octahedral stereochemistry of the complexes. Further, the antimalarial and antioxidant potential of the compounds (1-10) were analyzed by micro assay and DPPH assay protocols, respectively, to examine the therapeutic aspect of the compounds. The performed biological evaluations revealed that the complexes are more efficient in controlling infectious ailment in comparison of ligands. The complexes (5), (6), (10) shows significant efficiency for malarial and oxidant dysfunctions whereas Zn(II) complex (6) exhibit highest potency with 1.02 ± 0.07 and 2.28 ± 0.05 µM IC50 value. Furthermore, to support the highest antimalarial potency of the (3-6) complexes and their associated ligand (1), the computational studies like molecular docking, DFT, MESP and ADMET analysis were executed which were supported the biological efficacy of the complex (6) by providing numerous parameters like binding interaction electronegativity, electrophilicity, HOMO value and electron density.

Development of reliable quantitative structure-toxicity relationship models for toxicity prediction of benzene derivatives using semiempirical descriptors

The Health and environmental hazards of benzene and nitrobenzene (NB) derivatives have remained a topic of interest of researchers. In silico methods for prediction of toxicity of chemicals have proved their worth in accurate forecast of environmental as well as health toxicity and are strongly recommended by regulatory authorities. Two quantitative structure-toxicity relationship (QSTR) models explaining Scenedesmus obliquus toxicity trends among 39 benzene derivatives and Tetrahymena pyriformis toxicity of 103 NB and 392 benzene derivatives are developed using semiempirical quantum chemical parameters. The best constructed QSTR models have good fitting ability (R² = 0.8053, 0.7591, and 0.8283) and robustness (Q²_LOO = 0.7507, 0.7227, and 0.8194; Q²_LMO = 0.7338, 0.7153, and 0.8172). The external predictivity of all the models are quite good (R²_EXT = 0.8256, 0.9349, and 0.8698). Electronegativity, Cosmo volume, total energy, and molecular weight are responsible for the increase and decrease of toxicity of benzene derivatives against S. obliquus while electronegativity, electrophilicity index, the heat of formation, total energy, hydrophobicity, and cosmo volume are responsible for modulation of toxicity of NB and benzene derivatives toward T. pyriformis. These models fulfill the requirements of all the five OECD principles.