Abstract

Several research groups have focused their studies in the area of bioinorganic chemistry, where the functionalization of metal fragments with organic ligands and/or conjugated biomolecules has created an alternative to obtain new compounds that present a high therapeutic and medicinal interest to attack various diseases such as cancer, depression, Alzheimer, Parkinson, malaria, tuberculosis. For example, cis-platin and its derivatives are used in approximately 50% of all anticancer medications and form the spearhead of chemotherapeutical treatments. However, these derivatives are ineffective against fast emerging platinum-resistant tumors and cause severe side effects such as nephrotoxicity. Due to it is particular chemical structure, cisplatin offers limited possibilities to improve its specificity and to reduce side effects. In this sense, organometallic complexes emerged as interesting lead-structures to substitute or complement Pt-containing formulations. One of the organometallic fragment that has caused great interest is the cyclopentadienyl tricarbonyl complex of rhenium(I). The low oxidation state of the metal, the structural versatility provided by these half sandwich fragments, and the high lipophilicity and variable cytotoxicity of this moiety compared with other transition metals, explain that these derivatives are a good alternative for the design of novel compounds that could be used in the area of medicine, therapy, and pharmaceuticals. Thus, mono-, hetero-, and homobimetallic cyrhetrenyl complexes have been evaluated as “building block” for imaging agents, as anticancer, antimalarial, antituberculosis compounds and as potential candidates for the activation or inhibition of proteins, receptors and enzymes. Considering the previous, we are developing the synthesis of new organometallic rhenium complexes and evaluating their antiproliferative activity in colon and pancreatic cancer cells. Additionally, we are evaluating the inhibitory activity of these new systems in various proteins that have been overexpressed in the cytoplasm of some cancer cells.