Copper ion as a delivery platform for taxanes and taxane complexes.

A number of delivery agents, such as proteins, liposomes, micelles, and nanoparticles, are utilized for transporting pharmaceutical agents in a physiological environment. This Letter focuses on the use of the copper(II) ion and its potential role as a delivery agent for the taxanes and taxol couple to a malaria drug. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR, (1)H, (13)C, (15)N), Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS, MALDI-TOF, FT-ICR) and computational methods are used to examine the structure of the complex. The National Cancer Institute's benchmark 60 cell line panel is used to compare the efficacy of the copper-taxol and copper-taxol-hydroxychloroquin complexes to that of iron-taxol and pure taxol.