Chemistry Commons^™

Reaction Rates Of Amino Acids With Derivatives Of The Anticancer Drug Cisplatin, Celia Jess Whelan

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

We are studying reactions of cisplatin derivatives, which differ in both size and shape, with various amino acids. When reaction with DNA occurs, apoptosis is observed, ideally leading to termination of the cancer. Due to the affinity of cisplatin for sulfur-containing amino acids, reaction with proteins may occur prior to access to the DNA, producing a large array of products, which could potentially be toxic to the human body. Both the size and shape of the platinum complexes often affect the reactions with protein targets more so than with DNA targets. By performing reactions of specific amino acids targets with …