Ricerc@Sapienza

Serine hydroxymethyltransferases (SHMTs) reversibly transform serine into glycine in a reaction accompanied with conversion of tetrahydrofolate (THF) into 5,10-methylene-THF (5,10-meTHF). In vivo, 5,10-meTHF is the main carrier of one-carbon (1C) units, which are utilized for nucleotide biosynthesis and other processes crucial for every living cell, but hyperactivated in overproliferating cells (e.g. cancer tissues). SHMTs are emerging as a promising target for development of new drugs because it appears possible to inhibit growth of cancer cells by cutting off the supply of 5,10-meTHF.

The monocation 2,3-dicyano-5-[(N-methyl)-2-pyridyl}-6-(2-pyridyl)pyrazine, [(CN)2(2-Mepy)PyPyz]+ (1) reacts, as the iodide salt (2), under mild experimental conditions, with dichloro-di(benzonitrile)platinum(II), [(C6H5CN)2PtCl2], forming trans-diiodo-di(benzonitrile)platinum(II), [(C6H5CN)2PtI2] (3), and the complex [(CN)2Py(2-Mepy)PyzPtCl3]∙CH3CN (4), both structurally elucidated by single-crystal X-ray work.