Objective
Chemotherapy is, after surgery, the second most efficient therapy against cancer. However, it has many side effects for cancer patients because anticancer drugs kill cancer cells but also healthy ones. My project aims at synthesizing new metal-containing compounds that 1) are poorly toxic in the dark; 2) can be attached via a light-sensitive bond to liposomes that will carry them into cancer cells; and 3) detach from their carriers and become toxic upon light irradiation, thus killing cancer cells.
These new compounds contain ruthenium, a metal combining photochemical and anticancer properties. I will replace the weakly bound chloride ligands of known cytotoxic ruthenium compounds by strongly bound sulfur ligands. By doing so, the DNA- and protein-binding ability of the ruthenium compounds will be lowered, which will lower their toxicity in the dark. Thioether-lipid conjugates will be used to attach the ruthenium prodrugs to liposomes carriers that are well taken up by cancer cells.
Techniques to irradiate tumors in vivo are nowadays available in the clinics. By shining light onto the ruthenium-enriched cancer cells photochemical cleavage of the Ru-S bond will take place, thus detaching the metal complex from its carrier and allowing it for binding to biological molecules. Thus, the ruthenium prodrug will be transformed inside cancer cells into a highly toxic molecule that will kill the cells. I will study mononuclear compounds and molecules containing several ruthenium centres; visible light activation and near infrared light activation. The final aim is to obtain ruthenium-functionalized liposomes that are poorly toxic in the dark, preferentially go into cancer cells, and become toxic at the place of irradiation, using light that penetrates well into biological tissues.
Because of this unique combination of properties my new light-activatable ruthenium prodrugs will ultimately lead to selective anticancer treatment showing low side effects for cancer patients.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine surgery
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics DNA
- natural sciences chemical sciences inorganic chemistry transition metals
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
ERC-2012-StG_20111012
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Host institution
2311 EZ Leiden
Netherlands
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.