Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Massey Cancer
Center have created a new platinum-based, anti-cancer agent able
to overcome acquired drug resistance by first modifying the way
it is absorbed into cancer cells and then attacking the DNA of
those cancer cells. The findings may help researchers design a
new generation of anti-cancer drugs that selectively target
cancer cells, reduce resistance and side effects and expand the
range of tumors that can be treated by platinum. In the Dec. 26
issue of the journal Inorganic Chemistry researchers reported on
the design of a new trinuclear platinum compound and
demonstrated that its cellular absorption is significantly
greater than that of neutral cisplatin, as well as other multi-
nuclear platinum compounds. The enhanced uptake into cancer
cells takes advantage of weak molecular interactions on the
cells’ surface. These results underscore the importance of the
new compound’s “non-covalent” interactions, prior to the attack
on DNA. Non-covalent interacti