Multifunctional Zinc Metal-Organic Framework for Highly Selective Detection of Picric Acid and Inhibition of Laryngeal Cancer Cell Growth

A new rigid and symmetrical tetracarboxylic ligand 2,3,5,6-tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl)pyrazine (H4TCPP) ligand was employed in the construction of a new Zn(II)-based metal-organic framework [Zn-3(OH)(2)(H2TCPP)(2)](DMF)(3) (1). Complex 1 not only displays bright blue luminescence arising from the matrix coordination-induced emission effect of the TCPP2- ligand, but also exhibits effective detection for picric acid in the solution with the quenching constant of 3.59 x 10(4) M-1. In the biological study, we investigated the effect of compound on Hep laryngeal cancer cell viability and proliferation with CCK8 assay, analyzed the production of autophagy in Hep cells by flow cytometer, and the western blot was also used to detect the expression of autophagy-related proteins. Moreover, the autophagy inhibitor 3-MA was used in this study to explore the role of autophagy in the anti-cancer activity of compound.