POLYNUCLEAR GOLD (III) COMPOUNDS AS ANTICANCER AGENTS

Abstract

From extensive in vitro (cell-based) and in vivo (animal based) studies it is observed that different gold complexes reveal unique biological and medicinal properties. Particularly, gold(III) compounds have attracted special interest as efficient cytotoxic and antitumor agents because of their structural similarity with the most extensively used anti-cancer drug, cisplatin. Recently, new classes of polynuclear gold(III) compounds were synthesized and characterized that showed improved stability profiles with significant anti-cancer activities and majority of them are also capable to overcome cisplatin resistance. The implementation of appropriate ligand selection strategies plays the vital role in this connection as metal-ligand coordination improves the efficiency of these compounds against the selective cancer cell lines with reduction of unwanted side effects. The primary aim of this review is to sum up the chemistry and biological activities of some novel representative polynuclear anticancer gold(III) compounds that making themselves efficient for further pharmacological evaluation. The correlation of their stability and cytotoxicity with the nature of the corresponding ligands is outlined here. The importance of multinuclearity in modulating and enhancing the biological actions of anticancer gold(III) drugs compare to their mononuclear analogue is also discussed.