Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38683943›Full record

ArticleJournal of the American Chemical Society2024

Phenazine Cations as Anticancer Theranostics

Felicity F Noakes, Kirsty L Smitten, Laura E C Maple, Jorge Bernardino de la Serna, Craig C Robertson, Dylan Pritchard, Simon D Fairbanks, Julia A Weinstein, Carl G W Smythe, Jim A Thomas

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Regulated cell death: a multidimensional regulatory network in the pathogenesis of renal fibrosis.Apoptosis : an international journal on programmed cell death · 2026
    Review
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Felicity F NoakesDepartment of Chemistry, The University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S3 7HF, U.K.
Kirsty L SmittenDepartment of Chemistry, The University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S3 7HF, U.K.
Laura E C MapleDepartment of Biomedical Science, The University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, U.K.
Jorge Bernardino de la SernaNational Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, U.K.ORCID 0000-0002-1396-3338
Craig C RobertsonDepartment of Chemistry, The University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S3 7HF, U.K.
Dylan PritchardDepartment of Chemistry, The University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S3 7HF, U.K.
Simon D FairbanksDepartment of Chemistry, The University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S3 7HF, U.K.
Julia A WeinsteinDepartment of Chemistry, The University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S3 7HF, U.K.
Carl G W SmytheDepartment of Biomedical Science, The University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, U.K.ORCID 0000-0001-6526-0565
Jim A ThomasDepartment of Chemistry, The University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S3 7HF, U.K.ORCID 0000-0002-8662-7917

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The biological properties of two water-soluble organic cations based on polypyridyl structures commonly used as ligands for photoactive transition metal complexes designed to interact with biomolecules are investigated. A cytotoxicity screen employing a small panel of cell lines reveals that both cations show cytotoxicity toward cancer cells but show reduced cytotoxicity to noncancerous HEK293 cells with the more extended system being notably more active. Although it is not a singlet oxygen sensitizer, the more active cation also displayed enhanced potency on irradiation with visible light, making it active at nanomolar concentrations. Using the intrinsic luminescence of the cations, their cellular uptake was investigated in more detail, revealing that the active compound is more readily internalized than its less lipophilic analogue. Colocalization studies with established cell probes reveal that the active cation predominantly localizes within lysosomes and that irradiation leads to the disruption of mitochondrial structure and function. Stimulated emission depletion (STED) nanoscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging reveal that treatment results in distinct lysosomal swelling and extensive cellular vacuolization. Further imaging-based studies confirm that treatment with the active cation induces lysosomal membrane permeabilization, which triggers lysosome-dependent cell-death due to both necrosis and caspase-dependent apoptosis. A preliminary toxicity screen in the

Indexed as

Antineoplastic AgentsCationsPhenazinesAnimalsApoptosisCell Line, TumorDrug Screening Assays, AntitumorHEK293 CellsHumansLysosomesMolecular StructureTheranostic NanomedicineAntineoplastic AgentsCationsPhenazines

Identifiers

PMID38683943
PMCPMC11082890

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.