No abstract

Metabolic adaptations can help cancer cells to escape from chemotherapeutics, mainly involving autophagy and ATP production. Herein, we report a new rhein‐based cyclometalated IrIII complex, Ir‐Rhein, that can accurately target mitochondria and effectively inhibit metabolic adaptations. The complex Ir‐Rhein induces severe mitochondrial damage and initiates mitophagy to reduce the number of mitochondria and subsequently inhibit both mitochondrial and glycolytic bioenergetics, which eventually leads to ATP starvation death. Moreover, Ir‐Rhein can overcome cisplatin resistance. Co‐incubation experiment, 3D tumor spheroids experiment and transcriptome analysis reveal that Ir‐Rhein shows promising antiproliferation performance for cisplatin‐resistant cancer cells with the regulation of platinum resistance‐related transporters. To our knowledge, this is a new strategy to overcome metallodrug resistance with a mitochondria‐relevant treatment.

Metabolic adaptations can help cancer cells to escape from chemotherapeutics, mainly involving autophagy and ATP production. Herein, we report a new rhein‐based cyclometalated IrIII complex, Ir‐Rhein, that can accurately target mitochondria and effectively inhibit metabolic adaptations. The complex Ir‐Rhein induces severe mitochondrial damage and initiates mitophagy to reduce the number of mitochondria and subsequently inhibit both mitochondrial and glycolytic bioenergetics, which eventually leads to ATP starvation death. Moreover, Ir‐Rhein can overcome cisplatin resistance. Co‐incubation experiment, 3D tumor spheroids experiment and transcriptome analysis reveal that Ir‐Rhein shows promising antiproliferation performance for cisplatin‐resistant cancer cells with the regulation of platinum resistance‐related transporters. To our knowledge, this is a new strategy to overcome metallodrug resistance with a mitochondria‐relevant treatment.

The introduction of LA improved the anticancer activity of the complex and helped overcome the cisplatin-resistance.

No abstract