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Chemical Biology

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Image by Terry Vlisidis

Fluorescent Nanomaterials for Biological Applications

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Theranostic nanomedicine is emerging as a promising therapeutic paradigm. Our interest is to design fluorescent nanomaterials which can selectively target cancer cells and can be used as theranostic agents. Nanomaterials with enzyme-like activity have attracted significant interest due to their ability to replace specific enzymes in enzyme-based applications. We are also interested in designing stable and biocompatible nanozymes that can successfully mimic important cellular enzymes like superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase and peroxidase, etc.

Image by Terry Vlisidis

Small Molecule Based Anticancer Agent

Discovery of small molecule based anticancer drugs revolutionized over the last decade. We are interested in designing small molecules that can specifically inhibit enzymes or proteins (EGFR kinase, Bcl-2, HDAC, etc) which has important role in cancer progression/ metastasis. The increasing number of reports related to drug resistance and systematic toxicities urge the need for the development of new effective chemotherapeutic drugs. Targeted therapy is now used to selectively trigger as well as disturb the function of those proteins which are responsible for cancer cell survival and progression. We are interested to design small molecule-based enzyme inhibitors, study their modes of binding to the enzyme of interest and incorporate them with a prodrug strategy to reduce systematic toxicity. This strategy may open up a new trail for developing promising chemotherapeutic agents. Furthermore, attachment of a pro-moiety to the active moiety provides a way to overcome the barriers that hamper the optimal use of the drug and reduces toxicity to normal cells.

Image by Terry Vlisidis

Multi-Targeted Metal Complexes for Theranostic Applications

Our work is focused on multi-targeted metal complexes as potential therapeutic agents in cancer therapy because of their unique characteristics, such as redox activity, variable coordination modes, and reactivity toward the organic substrate. Their noteworthy properties have attracted much attention in the design and synthesis of metal complexes that specifically bind to the biomolecular target without hampering normal metabolic conditions, ultimately leading to cancer cell death. We are using Pt, Ir, Au, and Ru metals for targeting cancer cells. One of the major challenges in cancer therapy is the selective targeting of cancer cells to avoid irreversible damage to normal cells. A prodrug strategy could be the most impressive solution to solve this problem. We are very much delighted to work on prodrug therapy including metal complexes that work on tumor-microenvironment sensitive and specific cancer biomarkers activation conditions. We are also working on Photodynamic therapy which is a non-invasive treatment for cancer therapy. To avoid damage through irradiation during PDT to normal cells we are also developing smart photosensitizers which could only get activated by certain tumor-specific reaction conditions and release an elevated amount of reactive oxygen species. This could provide a new arch in designing anticancer drugs to avoid obstacles caused by conventional chemotherapeutics.

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