{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]],"date-time":"2026-09-23T11:09:54Z","timestamp":1790161794648,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2018,9,4]],"date-time":"2018-09-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1536019200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Molecules"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are thought of as a clinically pertinent subpopulation of tumors, partly responsible for cancer relapse and metastasis. Research programs aimed at discovering anti-CSC agents have largely focused on biologics and purely organic molecules. Recently, we showed that a family of redox-active copper(II) complexes with phenanthroline-based ligands and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as indomethacin, are capable of potently and selectively killing breast CSCs. Herein we present analogous redox-inactive, zinc(II)-phenanthroline-indomethacin complexes with the ability to kill breast CSCs and bulk breast cancer cells with equal potency (in the submicro- or micromolar range). A single dose of the zinc(II) complexes could theoretically be administered to eliminate whole tumor populations. Excitingly, some of the zinc(II) complexes decrease the growth and viability of mammospheres to a comparable or higher degree than salinomycin, a compound known to effectively kill breast CSCs. As far as we are aware this is the first report to examine the anti-breast CSC activity of zinc(II)-containing compounds.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules23092253","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,9,5]],"date-time":"2018-09-05T03:08:55Z","timestamp":1536116935000},"page":"2253","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":17,"title":["Polypyridyl Zinc(II)-Indomethacin Complexes with Potent Anti-Breast Cancer Stem Cell Activity"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"23","author":[{"given":"Tiffany K.","family":"Rundstadler","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, King\u2019s College London, London SE1 1DB, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Arvin","family":"Eskandari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, King\u2019s College London, London SE1 1DB, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sarah M.","family":"Norman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, King\u2019s College London, London SE1 1DB, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7047-6384","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kogularamanan","family":"Suntharalingam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, King\u2019s College London, London SE1 1DB, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,9,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Cooper, G.M. 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