A ‘Sleeping Trojan Horse’ which transports metal ions into cells, localises in nucleoli, and has potential for bimodal fluorescence/PET imaging

Thorp-Greenwood, Flora L. and Fernandez-Moreira, Vanesa and Millet, Coralie and Williams, Catrin F. and Cable, Joanne and Court, Jonathan B. and Hayes, Anthony J. and Lloyd, David and Coogan, Michael (2011) A ‘Sleeping Trojan Horse’ which transports metal ions into cells, localises in nucleoli, and has potential for bimodal fluorescence/PET imaging. Chemical Communications, 47 (11). pp. 3096-3098. ISSN 1359-7345

Abstract

A rhenium polypyridine-based molecular vessel is membrane impermeant when empty, but, upon loading with metal ions, the cationic form is taken up by MCF-7 cells, localising in nucleoli. The luminescence of the vessel and its copper binding ability suggest potential as a bimodal fluorescence/PET imaging agent.