The PtIV prodrug strategy has emerged as an excellent alternative to tackle the problems associated with conventional PtII drug therapy. However, there is a lack of tools to study how this new class of PtIV drugs are processed at the cellular level. Herein, we report the first ratiometric probe for cisplatin detection and use it to investigate PtIV anticancer complexes in biological systems. The probe was able to distinguish between cisplatin and its PtIV derivatives, allowing us to probe the intracellular reduction of PtIV prodrug complexes. The correlation between the amount of active PtII species available after intracellular reduction of PtIV complexes and their cytotoxicity and the role glutathione plays in the reduction of PtIV complexes were investigated.

Protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) belong to a large family of important regulatory enzymes involved in vital mammalian signaling pathways. Selective inhibitors of PTPs are highly valuable from a therapeutic standpoint given their association with various pathological conditions. One such target is PTP-1B which has previously been linked to diabetes and cancer. However, developing a selective inhibitor against PTP-1B has proven to be daunting because the enzyme shares a high degree of structural homology with TC-PTP, an essential PTP involved in modulating immune functions. To address this challenge, a series of organoruthenium complexes was developed to bind at the PTP substrate-binding site while simultaneously target the peripheral structural space. By capitalizing on the potential difference in the structural environment proximal to the active site between different PTPs, selectivity toward PTP-1B over TC-PTP was improved, paving the way for organoruthenium complexes as selective PTP-1B metalloinhibitors.

A pair of trans,trans-muconate ligands have been successfully aligned in two novel Au(I) macrocycles by design from phosphino metal precursors that undergo photochemical cycloaddition reactions quantitatively, resulting in the formation of cyclooctadiene derivatives.

Mitochondria have emerged as important targets for cisplatin in cancer therapy. Apart from cisplatin, anticancer Pt complexes based on similar scaffolds have also been developed to target mitochondria. Yet cellular processing of cisplatin or these mitochondria‐targeting Pt analogues remained unexplored, largely due to a lack of tools capable of probing these Pt drugs within an intracellular environment. We developed the first mitochondria‐targeted fluorescent probe for real‐time monitoring of Pt accumulation in mitochondria. We applied the probe to investigate mitochondria as cellular targets for Pt drug complexes and uncovered two distinct pathways whereby these Pt complexes could be delivered to mitochondria after cell entry.

Kinetically-inert Pt(IV) carboxylate complexes have emerged in recent years as candidates for the development of next-generation platinum anticancer drugs. Being native prodrugs of clinically-important Pt(II) chemotherapeutic agents, the Pt(IV) scaffold can be exploited to incorporate additional functionalities while keeping the Pt(II) pharmacophore intact. This mini-review examines recent work performed to illuminate the mechanism of Pt(IV) prodrug activation and their use as versatile platforms for targeted chemotherapy.