Endometrial cancer of the uterus is highly malignant with an increase rate of morbidity and mortality in both childbearing age and postmenopausal women. Rhenium compounds have been shown to have therapeutic properties against various cancers both in vitro cell lines and in vivo animal models. In this in vitro study, we investigated the effects of a novel group of Rhenium ligands on a uterine cancer cell line. Our initial results showed that these compounds are cytotoxic, induces apoptosis and prevents tubulin polymerization in these uterine cancer cell lines, we also found these novel Rhenium compounds to be noncytocidal to healthy human blood lymphocyte cells, thus proving their safety and efficacy in future translational studies.

Microplastics are tangible particles of less than 0.2 inches in diameter that are ubiquitously distributed in the biosphere and accumulate in water bodies. During the east-coast hot summers (23–29 °C) of 2021 and 2022, June through September, we captured copious amounts of the jellyfish Chrysaora chesapeakei, a predominant species found in the Patuxent River of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland on the United States East Coast. We determined that their gelatinous bodies trapped many microplastics through fluorescent microscopy studies using Rhodamine B staining and Raman Spectroscopy. The chemical nature of the microplastics was detected using gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy headspace (SPME-GC-MS) and solvent extraction (GC-MS) methods through a professional commercial materials evaluation laboratory. Numerous plastic-affiliated volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from diverse chemical origins and their functional groups (alkanes, alkenes, acids, aldehydes, ketones, ethers, esters, and alcohols) along with other non-microplastic volatile organic compounds were observed. Our findings corroborate data in the available scientific literature, distinguishing our finding’s suitability.

Transition metals, such as zinc, iron magnesium, molybdenum, and copper, are essential in cellular biochemistry as they function as components of enzyme active sites, assist in protein folding, and function as electron carriers. In these functions, the metal ions are complexed with proteins. Transition metal complexes have also found applications as diagnostic, therapeutic, and imaging agents. A diversity of organic ligands has been complexed with d-block transition elements such as rhenium (I) and ruthenium (II) to develop luminescent compounds for use in microscopy [ 1–3]. The compounds display favorable optical properties for imaging including a large Stoke’s shift and long excited-state lifetimes [ 3]. The luminescence has been attributed to metal-to-ligand charge transfers (MLCT) that are forbidden and that, consequently, exhibit long half-lives [ 4]. The emissions are influenced by the environment of complexes. These characteristics are particularly important in biological systems that can exhibit high levels of autofluorescence [ 1]. To image different cellular locales, the complexes have been modified with different ligands. Further, by conjugating the complexes with ligands for specific proteins, the rhenium compounds have shown effectiveness in imaging hormone receptors in cells [ 2]. It has also been possible to target specific organelles such as Golgi, nucleolus, the endoplasmic reticulum and cellular nitric oxide [ 4].

Cancer’s prevalence in society warrants an immediate need for a cure. Based on data provided by the American Cancer Society, breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer, thus it poses a serious threat to humanity. Tamoxifen, an antiestrogen drug, has been proven effective against hormone receptor positive breast cancers. However, it often causes endometrial cancer and tumor resistance after extended use. Other studies have demonstrated the anticancer activity of ferrocifens (tamoxifen analogues) against hormone- dependent MCF-7 and hormone-independent MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. A drawback of these ferrocifen compounds is the possibility of developing liver damage due to iron overload. Some rhenium- based compounds have been proven to be less toxic towards normal cells. Previous studies in our lab have shown that after synthesis, there is a significant amount of anticancer activity from the novel rhenium complexes of the type XRe(CO) [X = α -diimines and Z = tosylate, 1-naphthalenesulfonate and 2- naphthalenesulfonate] against MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. In this study, we are exploring the optimization of the first step of this synthesis using microwave assisted organic synthesis. This step involves treating dirhenium decacarbonyl with the corresponding α-diimine in the presence of 1-pentanol and CO2 gas to give a pentylcarbonato (PC) complex. Three PC derivatives (PC2, PC4 and PC5) were synthesized with 86%, 65% and 84% yields. In comparison to conventional methods, the reaction times for PC2, PC4 and PC5 were reduced from 12 hrs. to 1.5 hrs., 24 hrs. to 2.25 hrs and 24 hrs to 2 hrs. Further studies on other PC derivatives are ongoing.