Patent ID: 7655620

Claim:
A multi-component pharmaceutical to induce cell death in tumors, the pharmaceutical comprising: metal ions bound to a first carrier, wherein the first carrier is a protein comprising a minimum of four cysteine amino acids that non-covalently bind the metal ions in metal-thiolate clusters, wherein the first carrier is conjugated with one or more targeting molecules, the targeting molecules having a selective affinity for tumor cells, and wherein the first carrier is cell impermeable or slowly permeable; and a second carrier comprising a cell permeable dithiocarbonyl compound represented by the formula: (R 1 ) m (R 2 )Z—C—(S)—S—Y wherein: m is 0 or 1; R 1 and R 2 may be independently hydrogen or C 1 -C 24 straight, branched, or cyclic alkyl, alkenyl, aryl, alkaryl, aralkyl, or alkoxy fragments, said fragments optionally substituted with ester, ether, halogen, ether, sulfate, hydroxyl, or phosphate groups or wherein R 1 and R 2 may be optionally connected via a bridge comprising —(CH 2 ) n —, wherein n is 3-8, and wherein said bridge may be optionally substituted with C 1 -C 10 straight, branched, or cyclic alkyl, aryl, aryalkyl, or alkaryl groups, each of said groups optionally substituted with hydroxyl, halo, phosphate, sulfate, or sulfonate groups; Z is oxygen or nitrogen with the proviso that if Z is oxygen then m is 0; and Y is hydrogen, C 1 -C 12 amine, C 1 -C 12 carboxyl, a pharmaceutically acceptable cation, a physiologically cleavable leaving group, a targeting moiety, or a chemotherapeutic drug; wherein the second carrier has a greater affinity for the metal ions than the first carrier, wherein the second carrier transports the metal ions into the cell, and wherein the metal ions have sufficient kinetic lability with regard to the second carrier to allow transfer and release of the metal ions from the second carrier to an intracellular space to affect cell death; and wherein the first and second carriers are separate compositions.