We developed a fluorescent assay that can quickly and inexpensively confirm the ability of novel compounds to chelate iron. Iron chelators are a promising class of compound that can be used to target cancers. Chelators'disruption of cancer's metabolic adaptions may lead to a new therapeutic strategy in cancer treatment.
There is a research focus on the development of iron chelators to disrupt the metabolic adaptions of cancers. However, there are no inexpensive and simple screening techniques for the observation of a novel molecule's ability to chelate iron. There is an unmet need for a simple, inexpensive assay for screening novel iron chelators.
This assay will allow cancer biologists to observe the chelation ability of novel compounds before investing time and resource into cellular screens of biological activity. Using this assay, we were able to observe the iron chelation ability of newly developed iron chelators. We have then focused on the question of how these chelators disrupt metabolism in cancer cells and how these cells respond to this disruption.
We are fascinated with how cancer cells respond to the metabolic disruptions created by the treatment with iron chelators. Understanding iron metabolism in cancers is fundamental to the development of novel therapeutics and new treatment regimes.
