TARGETING INTRACELLULAR COPPER IONS FOR INHIBITING ANGIOGENESIS USING NANOPARTICLES OF TERNARY INORGANIC METAL SULFIDE M1M2S4 (M1, INDEPENDENTLY, IS MG, CA, MN, FE, OR ZN; M2=MO OR W) COMPOUNDS TO TREAT METASTATIC CANCER

摘要

This invention describes a new type of covalent-network ternary inorganic metal sulfide compounds M1M2S4 (M1, independently, is, Mg, Ca, Mn, Fe, or Zn; M2=Mo or W) and a process for preparing the biocompatible nanoparticles of such compounds. The nanoparticles are surface-modified with a capping agent and/or a biocompatible polymer and have the size from a few nanometers to several thousand nanometers. These nanoparticles are nontoxic and can be internalized by cells to deplete copper ions via a highly selective ion-exchange reaction between the intracellular copper ions and the divalent ion bound in the nanoparticles for the application of inhibiting angiogenesis in cancer and other diseases.