Grafting of a novel gold(III) complex on nanoporous MCM-41 and evaluation of its toxicity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Abstract

Yousef Fazaeli1,2, Mostafa M Amini1, Hamed Ashourion3, Homayoun Heydari2, Abbas Majdabadi2, Amir Reza Jalilian2, Shamsozoha Abolmaali2,31Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University, Evin, Tehran, 2Agricultural, Medical and Industrial Research School, Moazzen Boulevard, Rajaee Shahr, Karaj, 3Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of New Technologies and Engineering, Shahid Beheshti University, Evin, Tehran, IranAbstract: The goal of this research was to investigate the potential of newly synthesized gold complex trichloro(2,4,6-trimethylpyridine)Au(III) as an anticancer agent. The gold(III) complex was synthesized and grafted on nanoporous silica, MCM-41, to produce AuCl3@PF-MCM-41 (AuCl3 grafted on pyridine-functionalized MCM-41). The toxicity of trichloro(2,4,6-trimethylpyridine)Au(III) and AuCl3@PF-MCM-41 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (as a model system) was studied. The gold(III) complex showed a mid cytotoxic effect on yeast viability. Using the drug delivery system, nanoporous MCM-41, the gold(III) complex became a strong inhibitor for growth of yeast cells at a very low concentration. Furthermore, the animal tests revealed a high uptake of AuCl3@PF-MCM-41 in tumor cells. The stability of the compound was confirmed in human serum.Keywords: trichloro(2,4,6-trimethylpyridine)Au(III), MCM-41, Au(III), Saccharomyces cerevisiae, anticancer agent