Researchers discover iron-targeting approaches to halt proliferation of cancer cells

yet keeping it available to the rest of the body. To do so, they targeted intracellular iron with compounds that are activated only after cellular uptake."As chemists, we can design and synthesize molecules that are able to bind iron only under certain conditions and not throughout the body," Tomat said."We've been working on various approaches toward this type of chemistry; we call these prochelator approaches because the chelator is the compound that binds the metal ion.

The research was inspired by a"common reagent," a compound that is employed in laboratories worldwide to assess the ability of drug candidates to inhibit the proliferation of cultured mammalian cells. "Because iron is such a fundamental player that is important in many cancer types, and this high demand for iron is a general characteristic of malignancy, I've been interested in this strategy for a number of years," said Tomat, who has been exploring iron chelators and their role in tumor progression for more than 10 years.

"We're excited about this new strategy because we think this class of molecules can be further modified to optimize the properties and improve the antiproliferative activity and really become a way for us to impact theTomat's co-authors include former postdoctoral associate Zoufeng Xu, Ph.D., and doctoral student Yu-Shien Sung.

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