Tracking of drugs in cancer cells is important for basic biology research and therapeutic applications. Therefore, we designed and synthesised a Zn(II)-thiosemicarbazone complex with photoluminescent property for organelle-specific imaging and anti-cancer proliferation. The Zn(AP44eT)(NO₃)₂ coordination ratio of metal to ligand was 1:1, which was remarkably superior to 2-((3-aminopyridin-2-yl) methylene)-N, N-diethylhydrazinecarbothioamide (AP44eT·HCl) in many aspects, such as fluorescence and anti-tumour activity. Confocal fluorescence imaging showed that the Zn(AP44eT)(NO₃)₂ was aggregated in mitochondria. Moreover, Zn(AP44eT)(NO₃)₂ was more effective than the metal-free AP44eT·HCl in shortening the G2 phase in the MCF-7 cell cycle and promoting apoptosis of cancer cells. Supposedly, the effects of these complexes might be located mainly in the mitochondria and activated caspase-3 and 9 proteins.

追踪癌细胞中的药物对于基础生物学研究和治疗应用非常重要。因此，我们设计并合成了具有光致发光特性的Zn（II）-硫代半碳酸盐配合物，用于细胞器特异性成像和抗癌增殖。金属与配体的Zn（AP44eT）（NO ₃）₂配位比为1：1，明显优于2-（（3-氨基吡啶-2-基）亚甲基）-N，N-二乙基肼碳硫代酰胺（AP44eT·HCl） ），例如荧光和抗肿瘤活性。共聚焦荧光成像表明，Zn（AP44eT）（NO ₃）₂聚集在线粒体中。此外，Zn（AP44eT）（NO ₃）₂在缩短MCF-7细胞周期中的G2期和促进癌细胞凋亡方面，它比无金属AP44eT·HCl更有效。据推测，这些复合物的作用可能主要位于线粒体和激活的caspase-3和9蛋白中。