A new Ce(III) compound based on 5-aminotetrazole-1-propanoic acid for ablation of HeLa cells

AbstractDeveloping new drugs for the treatment of cancer is of great significance. Coordination compounds based on tetrazole-carboxylates are the potential candidates for cancer treatment. In this article, [Ce2(atzpa)4(H2O)8](NO3)2·2H2O based on 5-aminotetrazole-1-propanoic acid (Hatzpa) and Ce(NO3)3·6H2O has been designed and prepared. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction reveals that the compound is binuclear in which atzpa acts as a bridging ligand. In order to improve the water dispersity of this compound, PEG-5000 (poly(ethyleneglycol-5000)) was coated on [Ce2(atzpa)4(H2O)8](NO3)2·2H2O to prepare the nanoparticles (NPs) in distilled water. In vitro study on HeLa cells shows that Hatzpa is nontoxic itself, while [Ce2(atzpa)4(H2O)8](NO3)2·2H2O NPs show high toxicity. Such NPs have a low half-inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 24 μg mL−1 (2.0 × 10−5 M). In addition, such NPs are able to inhibit the migration of HeLa cells even at a low concentration effectively, showing their potential to inhibit the transf...