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University of Cambridge

Metal Mediated Mechanisms of Drug Release

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

In this thesis will be described research towards the development of bioorthogonal bond-cleavage reactions, and their applications in targeted drug delivery (Figure 1). The first project relates to the development of a palladium mediated bond-cleavage or “decaging” reaction which can cause a propargyl carbamate to decompose and release an amine. This was further developed by the incorporation of a protein modification handle which allowed an amine-bearing drug to be covalently ligated to a protein by a palladium-cleavable linker. This chemistry was demonstrated by the conjugation of the anticancer drug doxorubicin to a tumour targeted anti-HER2 nanobody. The drug could then be delivered to cancer cells upon addition of a palladium complex. The second project relates to the development of a platinum mediated bond-cleavage reaction. This was developed with the aim of using platinum-containing anticancer drugs – such as cisplatin – as a catalyst to cause drug release reactions in tumours. In this reaction an alkyne-containing amide can decompose to release an amine upon addition of platinum complexes, and was applied to the release of prodrugs of the cytotoxins monomethylauristatin E and 5-fluorouracil in cancer cells. A cisplatin-cleavable antibody-drug conjugate was designed and synthesised, and progress towards its biological evaluation will be discussed.

Degree

thesis:*
Name dc:type.qualificationname
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Level dc:type.qualificationlevel
Doctoral
Grantor dc:publisher.institution
University of Cambridge
Year dc:date.issued
2018

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Stenton, Benjamin James
Advisor dc:contributor.advisor
  • Bernardes, Goncalo

Subjects

dc:subject × 15

Rights

dc:rights
Language dc:language
en

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/284402

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Cambridge University
Base URL
api.repository.cam.ac.uk/server/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Stenton, Benjamin James. Metal Mediated Mechanisms of Drug Release. Doctoral thesis, University of Cambridge, 2018. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.31775