Executive Summary : | The discovery of the salutary effects of low doses of CO on mammalian pathophysiology has sparked interest in metal carbonyl complexes as exogenous CO donors for CO delivery. However, delivering CO accurately and controlled is crucial to avoid toxicity. Supramolecular gels, which represent a frontier of materials chemistry, show great potential as smart soft materials. They have been investigated for drug delivery, tissue engineering, and wound treatment applications. However, the use of supramolecular gels for CO release and therapy is not well understood. This Core Research Grant (CRG) proposal aims to bridge the gap between supramolecular gel chemistry and CO delivery by metal carbonyl complexes. The project aims to develop novel photo controllable hybrid supramolecular gels with metal carbonyl complexes for CO delivery, which will be used for CO-based cancer gas therapy and other therapeutic applications. The research approach will cover traditional inorganic, organic, physical, materials, and biology/medicine research areas. The proposed comprehensive research approach will develop metal (Mn(I), Ru(II), and Re(I)) carbonyl complex-based supramolecular gels that release CO upon irradiation with light. The rate and dose of CO release will be studied using myoglobin assay, IR-assay, Uv-Vis, and fluorescence methods. Gel-based CO delivery may solve issues with limited CO capacity, brief half-lives, and poor biocompatibility. The primary goal is to bring at least one fully developed supragel-CO releasing systems for clinical application. |