Metal-Based Anticancer Complexes and p53: How Much Do We Know?

It is believed that metal complexes might be interesting alternatives to the small organic molecules for the treatment of cancer. Due to the variety of metal oxidation states and geometries, the structure of metal complexes can be easily modified based on the required design. For example, metal complexes can be specifically designed to interact with the p53 protein or its binding partners. The aim of this article is to discuss whether metal complexes can have a future as p53-targeting drugs.P53 plays a key role in protecting the human genome from DNA-related mutations; however, it is one of the most frequently mutated genes in cancer. The P53 family members p63 and p73 were also shown to play important roles in cancer development and progression. Currently, there are various organic molecules from different structural classes of compounds that could reactivate the function of wild-type p53, degrade or inhibit mutant p53, etc. It was shown that: (1) the function of the wild-type p53 protein was dependent on the presence of Zn atoms, and (2) Zn supplementation restored the altered conformation of the mutant p53 protein. This prompted us to question whether the dependence of p53 on Zn and other metals might be used as a cancer vulnerability. This review article focuses on the role of different metals in the structure and function of p53, as well as discusses the effects of metal complexes based on Zn, Cu, Fe, Ru, Au, Ag, Pd, Pt, Ir, V, Mo, Bi and Sn on the p53 protein and p53-associated signaling.