Fig. 6. In vivo synthetic prodrug therapy against HeLa tumor growth in mice.

a To highlight the biocatalytic activity of the GArM-Ru complex, the objective was to apply prodrug therapy via intravenous administration to treat subcutaneous xenograft tumors in mice. b Reactivity studies of prodrug 17 with Alb-Ru in mixtures of 5:4:1 blood/PBS/dioxane. Product yield was determined by HPLC analysis. Reactions were performed in triplicate. c Measurements of tumor size (mm³) in mice over time; Tumors were initially implanted in mice and developed over 4 days before therapy. Dosages were applied in 5 injections spread out over 8 days. d Extraction and visual comparison of tumor tissues shows the extent of growth inhibition 20 days after the start of therapy (n = 5). e Comparison of measured tumor burden (via weight) 20 days after the start of therapy (n = 5). P values were determined using a two-tailed Student’s t-test. **P = 0.0067 (Vehicle), *P = 0.0274 (Prodrug 17), *P = 0.0243 (GArM-Ru); *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, and ***P < 0.001. Data in c are represented as mean value ± SD, n = 5 biologically independent samples.