RT Journal Article
T1 Transition metal catalysis in the mitochondria of living cells
A1 Tomás Gamasa, María
A1 Martínez-Calvo, Miguel
A1 Rodríguez Couceiro, José
A1 Mascareñas Cid, José Luis
K1 Catalysis
K1 Chemical biology
K1 Organic chemistry
AB The development of transition metal catalysts capable of promoting non-natural transformations within living cells can open significant new avenues in chemical and cell biology. Unfortunately, the complexity of the cell makes it extremely difficult to translate standard organometallic chemistry to living environments. Therefore, progress in this field has been very slow, and many challenges, including the possibility of localizing active metal catalysts into specific subcellular sites or organelles, remain to be addressed. Herein, we report a designed ruthenium complex that accumulates preferentially inside the mitochondria of mammalian cells, while keeping its ability to react with exogenous substrates in a bioorthogonal way. Importantly, we show that the subcellular catalytic activity can be used for the confined release of fluorophores, and even allows selective functional alterations in the mitochondria by the localized transformation of inert precursors into uncouplers of the membrane potential.
PB Nature Publishing Group
YR 2016
FD 2016-09-07
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10347/16015
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10347/16015
LA eng
NO Toma´s-Gamasa, M. et al. Transition metal catalysis in the mitochondria of living cells. Nat. Commun. 7:12538 doi: 10.1038/ncomms12538 (2016)
NO We are thankful for the support given by the Spanish grant SAF2013-41943-R, the Xunta de Galicia (GRC2013-041 and 2015-CP082), the ERDF and the European Research Council (Advanced Grant No. 340055). M.T.G. thanks the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad for the Postdoctoral fellowship. M.M.C. thanks Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad for the Juan de la Cierva-Incorporacio´n fellowship (IJCI-2014-19326).
DS Minerva
RD 22 abr 2026