Doctoral Themes

Scorpionates for Cancer Therapy

Supervisors

Gonçalo Justino, goncalo.justino@tecnico.ulisboa.pt

Ana Paula Ribeiro, apribeiro@tecnico.ulisboa.pt

Luisa Margarida Martins, luisammartins@tecnico.ulisboa.pt

Registration Institution

Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa

Project description

How can basic research in chemistry and materials science help fighting cancer that affects millions of people every year?

Although research started to give us tools (therapies) to fight cancer and improve life quality along the years, there is still the need to find new compounds for cancer therapy.

Scorpionates are easily accessible coordination compounds with tridentate ligands that can be used in the synthesis of metal complexes. The name is related to their shape, resembling a scorpion with its tale and pincers. Some scorpionates have been referenced for their cytotoxicity potential, due to reveal intrinsic photonuclease activity. In this proposal, scorpionate complexes will be evaluated regarding their cytotoxicity and their anti-tumoral properties will be assessed in two human cell lines, HCT116 (colorectal carcinoma) and HaCaT (spontaneously transformed skin keratinocytes), in order to reveal their anti-tumoral potential and promote new cancer therapies.

This PhD project will include an internship in The University of Manchester.

Keywords

Scorpionates; Cytotoxicity potential; Cancer therapy

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