Single-molecule magnets based on rare earth complexes with chelating benzimidazole-substituted nitronyl nitroxide radicals

National Natural Science Foundation of China [20971072, 91122013, 90922032]Three rare earth-nitronyl nitroxide radical complexes [Ln(tfa)(3)(NIT-BzImH)] (Ln(III) = Gd 1, Tb 2, Dy 3; tfa = trifluoroacetylacetonate; NIT-BzImH = 2-(2'-benzimidazolyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazolyl-1-oxyl-3-oxide) have been successfully prepared and structurally characterized. X-Ray crystallographic analysis reveals that all three complexes are isomorphous. Their crystal structures consist of mononuclear molecule units in which lanthanide(III) is 8-coordinated to one NIT-BzImH and three trifluoroacetylacetonate ligands. The NIT-BzImH acts as a bidentate ligand via its nitrogen atom of the imidazole ring and the oxygen atom of the N-O group. The magnetic properties of complexes 1-3 were studied. All the three complexes exhibit ferromagnetic Ln(III)-radical coupling. AC magnetic susceptibility studies of 2 and 3 show slow magnetic relaxation suggesting that they behave as SMMs

KMT2C deficiency promotes small cell lung cancer metastasis through DNMT3A-mediated epigenetic reprogramming

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is notorious for its early and frequent metastases, which contribute to it as a recalcitrant malignancy. To understand the molecular mechanisms underlying SCLC metastasis, we generated SCLC mouse models with orthotopically transplanted genome-edited lung organoids and performed multiomics analyses. We found that a deficiency of KMT2C, a histone H3 lysine 4 methyltransferase frequently mutated in extensive-stage SCLC, promoted multiple-organ metastases in mice. Metastatic and KMT2C-deficient SCLC displayed both histone and DNA hypomethylation. Mechanistically, KMT2C directly regulated the expression of DNMT3A, a de novo DNA methyltransferase, through histone methylation. Forced DNMT3A expression restrained metastasis of KMT2C-deficient SCLC through repressing metastasis-promoting MEIS/HOX genes. Further, S-(5'-adenosyl)-L-methionine, the common cofactor of histone and DNA methyltransferases, inhibited SCLC metastasis. Thus, our study revealed a concerted epigenetic reprogramming of KMT2C- and DNMT3A-mediated histone and DNA hypomethylation underlying SCLC metastasis, which suggested a potential epigenetic therapeutic vulnerability