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Water‐Soluble Gold(III)–Metformin Complex Alters Mitochondrial Bioenergetics in Breast Cancer Cells
Author(s) -
Hyun Kim Jong,
Ofori Samuel,
Mertens R. Tyler,
Parkin Sean,
Awuah Samuel G.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
chemmedchem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.817
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1860-7187
pISSN - 1860-7179
DOI - 10.1002/cmdc.202100233
Subject(s) - biguanide , bioenergetics , metformin , mitochondrion , chemistry , respiration , phenformin , biochemistry , biophysics , pharmacology , biology , diabetes mellitus , endocrinology , anatomy
Chemical control of mitochondrial dynamics and bioenergetics can unravel fundamental biological mechanisms and therapeutics for several diseases including, diabetes and cancer. We synthesized stable, water‐soluble gold(III) complexes (Auraformin) supported by biguanide metformin or phenylmetformin for efficacious inhibition of mitochondrial respiration. The new compounds were characterized following the reaction of [C N]‐cyclometalated gold(III) compounds with respective biguanides. Auraformin is solution stable in a physiologically relevant environment. We show that auraformin decreases mitochondrial respiration efficiently in comparison to the clinically used metformin by 100‐fold. The compound displays significant mitochondrial uptake and induces antiproliferative activity in the micromolar range. Our results shed light on the development of new scaffolds as improved inhibitors of mitochondrial respiration.