Cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide, with nearly 10 million deaths recorded just in 2022. Over the years, significant progress has been made in developing therapies to control cancer cell replication and find effective treatments. However, the unique behaviors of cancer cells, such as uncontrolled growth, immune evasion, and others, make treatment challenging. Additionally, therapies like chemotherapy, radiation, and immunotherapy can damage healthy cells, leading to various side effects. The L-type amino acid transporter (LAT1) is a protein responsible for transporting large, hydrophobic amino acids and is highly expressed in cancer cell tissues. It has been extensively investigated as a potential carrier for delivering drugs across biological barriers and selectively targeting cancer cells over healthy cells. Acridines, which are recognized as promising moieties for anticancer agents, are well known for their potential as antitumor agents. Studies have also shown that 1,2,3-triazole scaffolds can enhance the efficacy of a biologically active unit. In this work we are using 1,2,3-triazoles as molecular linkers in the synthesis of acridine-amino acid drug assemblies with the goal of achieving LAT1-mediated drug uptake. Current efforts in our synthetic approach to these assemblies will be presented.
