Anticancer effect and mechanism of a Se-modified porphyrin Au(III) complex.

Au, Se and porphyrin are widely used components in the design of anticancer drugs, but their combination has never been referred to. In this work, a Se-modified porphyrin Au(III) complex, [AuTPP-Se]Cl, was designed and synthesized as a potential anticancer agent. This compound exhibits remarkable antiproliferative activity on all the six tested cancer cells. Its potency on HepG2 is even ten times higher than that of CDDP. The synergistic action among Au, Se and porphyrin components was validated. Mechanism study showed that both the induction of mitochondria-dependent apoptosis and the arrest of cell cycle contribute to the anticancer activity of [AuTPP-Se]Cl.