{
  "abstract": "Forming active therapeutic agents in situ can be a promising strategy to obtain safer and more effective treatments. However, achieving controlled formation of a drug in complex biological settings requires a detailed understanding of the target environment where the new therapeutic agent will be generated and the use of well-designed activation strategies. Here, we demonstrate that it is possible to form active metal complexes in blood serum and plasma by using ligands that target metal ions transported by albumin after they are bound to the protein. As a proof of concept, we applied this strategy to activate photosensitizers (PS) for photodynamic therapy (PDT). In situ metalation generated photoactivatable complexes with enhanced photochemical properties and anticancer activity, establishing albumin-bound metal ions as an endogenous resource for therapeutic activation.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Donostia International Physics Center, Paseo Manuel Lardizabal, 4, Donostia / San Sebastián, Spain, 20018",
    "Center for Cooperative Research in Biomaterials (CIC biomaGUNE), Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA)",
    "Kimika Fakultatea, Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (EHU), Paseo Manuel Lardizabal, 3, Donostia / San Sebastián, Spain, 20018",
    "Instituto de Química y Fisicoquímica Biológicas (IQUIFIB)",
    "CONICET – Universidad de Buenos Aires.",
    "Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica",
    "Universidad de Buenos Aires",
    "Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche, Chimiche e Farmaceutiche, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Edificio 17, Palermo, Italy, 90128",
    "Diamond Light Source, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, United Kingdom, OX11 0DE",
    "Centro de investigación en red de enfermedades respiratorias (CIBERES)",
    "Instituto de Salud Carlos III",
    "Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science Ikerbasque"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 9,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Manu Sánchez"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Esteban Zingales"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        3,
        4,
        5,
        6
      ],
      "name": "German E. Pieslinger"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Luisa D’Anna"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Itziar Souto-Riobo"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8
      ],
      "name": "Jessica Walker"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Alessio Terenzi"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1,
        9,
        10,
        11
      ],
      "name": "Susana Carregal-Romero"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        2,
        11
      ],
      "name": "Carlos Sanchez-Cano",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9522-0019"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ck1xwdwvystdh.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.26434/chemrxiv.15004045/v4",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "ck1xwdwvystdh",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15004045/v4",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2740|Photodynamic Therapy Research Studies"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223705684",
  "pdf_url": "https://chemrxiv.org/doi/pdf/10.26434/chemrxiv.15004045/v4",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-25",
  "publisher": "American Chemical Society (ACS)",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ck1xwdwvystdh.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:26Z",
      "native_id": "10.26434/chemrxiv.15004045",
      "source": "chemrxiv",
      "url": "https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15004045/v4"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2740|Photodynamic Therapy Research Studies",
      "subfield": "general"
    }
  ],
  "title": "IN SITU ASSEMBLY OF ACTIVE THERAPEUTICS THROUGH ALBUMIN-MEDIATED METAL TRANSFER",
  "title_text": "IN SITU ASSEMBLY OF ACTIVE THERAPEUTICS THROUGH ALBUMIN-MEDIATED METAL TRANSFER",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:26Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ck1xwdwvystdh",
  "venue": "ChemRxiv",
  "versions": []
}