Availability of 1 experimental thesis DEB – Dr. Giordano Poneti.

We inform students of our Master’s degree programs that an experimental thesis is available at the Chemistry Laboratory coordinated by Dr. Giordano Poneti, starting from November 2024.

The thesis will focus on the topic “Hypoxia-activated anticancer drug carriers,” within the field of coordination chemistry applied to cancer treatment.

The rapid growth of some solid tumors leads to the formation of poorly vascularized areas characterized by low oxygen concentration (hypoxia), making them more resistant to traditional radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Coordination chemistry offers an opportunity to exploit this feature for developing selective-release anticancer drug carriers. Coordination compounds of cobalt(III) ions are inert to the substitution of bound drugs. Through rational design, they can be reduced to the corresponding cobalt(II) compounds, whose chemical bonds become labile, but only in hypoxic areas. Functionalizing these molecules with anticancer drugs enables their selective release in hypoxic tumor regions, reducing the required drug dosage and associated side effects. In this thesis, new cobalt(III) coordination compounds will be synthesized, their structure in solution will be analyzed using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques, and their stability under hypoxic conditions will be assessed using solution-phase electronic spectroscopy over time, in the presence of reducing agents (ascorbic acid and glutathione) and under various pH levels.

For more information, contact Dr. Giordano Poneti, giordano.poneti@unitus.it