Ruthenium Complexes as Potential Cancer Cell Growth Inhibitors for Targeted Chemotherapy

Abstract

AbstractThe effective clinical use of the three generation platinum anticancer drugs, cisplatin, carboplatin, and oxaliplatin, has sparked interest in metallodrugs; however, drug resistance and side effects have hampered their continued use and effects. Ruthenium(III) complexes have been successfully used in clinical research, and their anticancer mechanisms have been extensively reported during the last few decades. Ruthenium(II) complexes have also received a lot of attention as anticancer alternatives, but only a few of them have been thoroughly investigated. The development of ruthenium compounds as target‐specific chemotherapeutic drugs has received a lot of attention in recent years. Indeed, a few reviews summarising the research on cancer targeting ruthenium complexes have been published previously. We looked at studies on the target specific mechanism of action of ruthenium complexes for numerous organelles endoplasmic reticulum, nucleus, mitochondria,), DNA, intracellular proteins, and certain enzymes (carbonic anhydrase, TopoisomeraseI), all of which are upregulated in cancer cells and provide a specific mechanism for cancer cell death. This review will provide readers with a general overview of the different ruthenium complexes available for targeted chemotherapy, as well as information to aid in the design and creation of new anticancer ruthenium complexes research.