N-Heterocyclic Carbene Iron Complexes as Anticancer Agents: In Vitro and In Vivo Biological Studies.

Cisplatin and its derivatives are commonly used in chemotherapeutic treatments of cancer, even though they suffer from many toxic side effects. The problems that emerge from the use of these metal compounds led to the search for new complexes capable to overcome the toxic side effects. Here, we report the evaluation of the antiproliferative activity of Fe(II) cyclopentadienyl complexes bearing n-heterocyclic carbene ligands in tumour cells and their in vivo toxicological profile. The in vitro antiproliferative assays demonstrated that complex Fe1 displays the highest cytotoxic activity both in human colorectal carcinoma cells (HCT116) and ovarian carcinoma cells (A2780) with IC50 values in the low micromolar range. The antiproliferative effect of Fe1 was even higher than cisplatin. Interestingly, Fe1 showed low in vivo toxicity, and in vivo analyses of Fe1 and Fe2 compounds using colorectal HCT116 zebrafish xenograft showed that both reduce the proliferation of human HCT116 colorectal cancer cells in vivo.

Novel mutations associated with pyruvate kinase deficiency in Brazil.

BACKGROUND: Pyruvate kinase deficiency is a hereditary disease that affects the glycolytic pathway of the red blood cell, causing nonspherocytic hemolytic anemia. The disease is transmitted as an autosomal recessive trait and shows a marked variability in clinical expression. This study reports on the molecular characterization of ten Brazilian pyruvate kinase-deficient patients and the genotype-phenotype correlations. METHOD: Sanger sequencing and in silico analysis were carried out to identify and characterize the genetic mutations. A non-affected group of Brazilian individuals were also screened for the most commonly reported variants (c.1456C>T and c.1529G>A). RESULTS: Ten different variants were identified in the PKLR gene, of which three are reported here for the first time: p.Leu61Gln, p.Ala137Val and p.Ala428Thr. All the three missense variants involve conserved amino acids, providing a rationale for the observed enzyme deficiency. The allelic frequency of c.1456C>T was 0.1% and the 1529G>A variant was not found. CONCLUSION: This is the first comprehensive report on molecular characterization of pyruvate kinase deficiency from South America. The results allowed us to correlate the severity of the clinical phenotype with the identified variants.

Novel mutations associated with pyruvate kinase deficiency in Brazil

Abstract Background: Pyruvate kinase deficiency is a hereditary disease that affects the glycolytic pathway of the red blood cell, causing nonspherocytic hemolytic anemia. The disease is transmitted as an autosomal recessive trait and shows a marked variability in clinical expression. This study reports on the molecular characterization of ten Brazilian pyruvate kinase-deficient patients and the genotype-phenotype correlations. Method: Sanger sequencing and in silico analysis were carried out to identify and characterize the genetic mutations. A non-affected group of Brazilian individuals were also screened for the most commonly reported variants (c.1456C>T and c.1529G>A). Results: Ten different variants were identified in the PKLR gene, of which three are reported here for the first time: p.Leu61Gln, p.Ala137Val and p.Ala428Thr. All the three missense variants involve conserved amino acids, providing a rationale for the observed enzyme deficiency. The allelic frequency of c.1456C>T was 0.1% and the 1529G>A variant was not found. Conclusion: This is the first comprehensive report on molecular characterization of pyruvate kinase deficiency from South America. The results allowed us to correlate the severity of the clinical phenotype with the identified variants.