B.Sc.(Hons), Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, 1992-1995; Ph.D., Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, 2003-2007; NUS Overseas Postdoctoral Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007-2009.
Contact Information
Office: S15-05-01
Tel: (65)-6516-5131 | Fax: (65)-6779-1691
Email: ang.weehan@nus.edu.sg | Personal webpage
Recognition and Achievements
- Chair, AsBIC-9 Conference in Singapore, 2018
- Member, Asian Biological Inorganic Chemistry Steering Committee, 2016-present
- EPFL Doctorate Prize, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 2008
Research Interests
We are interested in the development of therapeutic metallopharmaceuticals and techniques to investigate the interactions of transition metal-based drugs with their biological targets.
Research Highlight
Ref. : Ong, J. X.; Lim, C. S. Q.; Le, H. V.; Ang, W. H., A Ratiometric Fluorescent Probe for Cisplatin: Investigating the Intracellular Reduction of Platinum(IV) Prodrug Complexes. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, 58, 164-167. A ratiometric fluorescent probe was engineered to detect the clinically-relevant platinum drug cisplatin. The ability to distinguish platinum(II) species from their parental platinum(IV) complexes allowed us to apply the probe to study the activation of platinum(IV) carboxylate prodrug complexes within a complex intracellular environment.
(a) Figure shows the Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based fluorescent probe for the ratiometric sensing of cisplatin. The probe has high selectivity towards Pt2+ ion as other biologically relevant metal ions (Na+, K+, Mg2+, Cu2+, Ni2+, Zn2+, Fe2+ and Fe3+) have no significant effect on its emission profile. (b) Figure shows the application of the ratiometric probe to investigate the intracellular reduction of platinum(IV) prodrug complexes based on the cisplatin scaffold.
Teaching Contributions
- CM5211 Contemporary Organometallic Chemistry
- CM5198 Graduate Seminar in Chemistry
Representative Publications
- Ong, J. X.; Lim, C. S. Q.; Le, H. V.; Ang, W. H., A Ratiometric Fluorescent Probe for Cisplatin: Investigating the Intracellular Reduction of Platinum(IV) Prodrug Complexes. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, 58, 164-167.
- Babak, M. V. ; Zhi, Y.; Czarny, B.; Toh, T. B.; Hooi, L.; Chow, E. K.-H.; Ang, W. H.; Gibson, D.; Pastorin, G., Dual-Targeting Dual-Action Platinum(IV) Platform for Enhanced Anticancer Activity and Reduced Nephrotoxicity. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, 58, 8109-8114.
- Lee, V. E. Y.; Chin, C. F.; Ang, W. H., Design and investigation of photoactivatable platinum(IV) prodrug complexes of cisplatin. Dalton Trans. 2019, 48, 7388-7393.
- Lee, K. G. Z. Lee; Babak, M. V.; Weiss, A.; Dyson, P. J.; Nowak-Sliwinska, P.; Montagner, D.; Ang, W. H., Development of an Efficient Dual-action GST-inhibiting Anticancer Platinum(IV) Prodrug. ChemMedChem 2018, 13, 1210-1217.
- Ong, J. X.; Pang, V. Y. T.; Thng, L. M.; Ang, W. H., Preassembled Coumarin-Rhodamine Scaffold for Ratiometric Sensing of Nitric Oxide and Hypochlorite, Chem. Eur. J. 2017, 24, 1870-1876.
- Chow, M. J.; Alfiean, M.; Pastorin, G.; Gaiddon, C.; Ang, W. H., Apoptosis-independent organoruthenium anticancer complexes that overcome multidrug resistance: self-assembly and phenotypic screening strategies , Chem. Sci. 2017, 8, 3641-3649.
- Chow, M. J.; Licona, C.; Pastorin, G.; Mellitzer, G.; Ang, W. H.; Gaiddon, C., Structural tuning of organoruthenium compounds allows oxidative switch to control ER stress pathways and bypass multidrug resistance, Chem. Sci. 2016, 7, 4117-4124.
- Wong, D. Y. Q.; Ong, W. W. F.; Ang, W. H., Induction of Immunogenic Cell Death by Chemotherapeutic Platinum Complexes. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2015, 54, 6483-6487.
- Chow, M. J.; Licona, C.; Wong, D. Y. Q.; Pastorin, G.; Gaiddon, C.; Ang, W. H., Discovery and Investigation of Anticancer Ruthenium-Arene Schiff-Base Complexes via Water-Promoted Combinatorial Three-Component Assembly. J. Med. Chem. 2014, 57, 6043-6059.
- Wong, D. Y. Q.; Yeo, C. H. F.; Ang, W. H., Immuno-Chemotherapeutic Platinum(IV) Prodrugs of Cisplatin as Multimodal Anticancer Agents. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 6752-6756.
