A niobium polyoxometalate-folic acid conjugate as a hybrid drug for cancer therapeutics

• Published in: New journal of chemistry Vol. 46; no. 38; pp. 18199 - 1826
• Main Authors: Alizadeh, Mohammad, Yadollahi, Bahram
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge Royal Society of Chemistry 03.10.2022
• Subjects: Acids; Biocompatibility; Biological activity; Cancer; Folic acid; Hybrid systems; Methotrexate; Niobium; Polyoxometallates; Synthesis; Toxicity; Vitamin B
• ISSN: 1144-0546; 1369-9261
• DOI: 10.1039/d2nj01766k

In this work, covalently bonded folic acid and niobium substituted Wells-Dawson polyoxometalate, (Bu 4 N) 5 H 4 [P 2 W 15 Nb 3 O 62 ]-folic acid, has been synthesized and characterized. Afterward, the bioactivity behavior of this hybrid compound against cervical (HeLa) and human breast (MCF-7) cancer cells, and also human fibroblast cells (HFB) was investigated. This intelligent hybrid compound could surprisingly knock down cancer cells (IC50 about 37, 49 and 110 μg mL −1 on HeLa, MCF-7 and HFB, respectively). A higher expression of folic acid on HeLa and MCF-7 cells could explain the greater cytotoxicity of this hybrid polyoxometalate. As folate receptor (FR) negative cells, the normal cells remained approximately 2- to 3-fold safer. The bioactivity effect of (Bu 4 N) 5 H 4 [P 2 W 15 Nb 3 O 62 ] on HeLa and MCF-7 cells reaches IC-50 values of about 87 and 107 μg mL −1 respectively, which is about twice that of the as synthesized hybrid compound. Compared to methotrexate as a positive control, this hybrid polyoxometalate is about 2 to 3 times safer on healthy cells. Moreover, it has high potential for developing a selective therapeutic effect against FR-positive cancer cells. A new hybrid compound has been synthesized by the covalent grafting of (Bu 4 N) 5 H 4 [P 2 W 15 Nb 3 O 62 ] to folic acid and used selectively against human breast (MCF-7) and cervical (HeLa) cancer cells.