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

Yousef Fazaeli^1,2, Mostafa M Amini¹, Hamed Ashourion³, Homayoun Heydari², Abbas Majdabadi², Amir Reza Jalilian², Shamsozoha Abolmaali^2,3
1Department 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, Iran

Abstract: 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