Ruthenium(ii) complexes containing quinone based ligands to improve membrane damage and cause PDT response

• Grant number: 20/01104-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: March 01, 2021
• End date: February 28, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Inorganic Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Mauricio da Silva Baptista
• Grantee: Camila Fontes Neves da Silva
• Supervisor: Claudia Turro
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Ohio State University, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 19/03195-3 - NEW RUTHENIUM COMPLEXES DEVELOP TO CAUSE EFFICIENT MEMBRANE DAMAGE AND TO IMPROVE PDT RESPONSE, BP.PD

Abstract

The project submitted here entitled "Ruthenium(II) complexes containing quinone based ligands to improve membrane damage and cause PDT response" is part of the postdoctoral project (2019/03195-3) and is related to a collaboration Project between Professor Mauricio da Silva Baptista (Universidade de São Paulo - Brazil) and Professor Claudia Turro (The Ohio State University). The strategy involves the studies of new Ru(II)-quinone complexes as PSs to induced membrane damage when submitted to light irradiation therapy. Over the years many research has highlighted the positive effects related with PDT therapy. However most of them are interested in the generation of reactive oxygen species by photosensitizers (PSs) molecules. More recently, studies have shown that contact-dependent reactions are also efficient in promoting cell death effects. In this context the proposal of this work is evaluate the photophysical properties of ruthenium complexes as PS in membrane cell models. The pursuit of these species (PS) is of great interest since the possibility of creating an efficient mechanism to induced cancer cell death. In this Project, the main goal is building knowledge and understanding about the Ru(II)-quinone complexes properties that are promising to abstract electron from a lipids chain and lead to cell membrane damage. The objective is to provide a better understanding the mechanism of PSs after light irradiation by promoting specific pathway to contribute with PDT studies. (AU)