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In this study, a series of Ir(III)\/Re(I)-PIM complexes [Ir-PIM-(1\u20133) and Re-PIM-(1\u20133)] by coordination 4-PIM with iridium(III)\/rhenium(I) metal centers were designed and synthesized to study their antitumor mechanisms. Among the six complexes screened, four compounds Ir-PIM-(1\u20133) and Re-PIM-1 showed good antitumor activity against human triple negative breast cancer (MDA-MB-231) cells. And Ir-PIM-(1\u20133)\/Re-PIM-1 exhibited potential IDO inhibitory activity, which can suppress the expression of IDO protein. Further mechanistic studies indicate that Ir-PIM-(1\u20133)\/Re-PIM-1 can effectively enter MDA-MB-231 cells, and induce the depolarization of mitochondrial membrane potential, the elevation of reactive oxygen species, G2\/M phase cell cycle arrest and the release of damage-related molecular patterns, exhibiting dual activity in inducing both apoptosis and ICD.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1093\/mtomcs\/mfag013","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,25]],"date-time":"2026-03-25T12:51:02Z","timestamp":1774443062000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Synthesis and antitumor mechanism investigation of iridium(III)\/rhenium(I) complexes with 4-phenylimidazole ligands"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Lin-Yuan","family":"Zhu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Kunming University of Science and Technology , Kunming 650500 ,","place":["P. R. 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