The Potential of Congo Red Supplied Aggregates of Multitargeted Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor (Sorafenib, BAY-43-9006) in Enhancing Therapeutic Impact on Bladder Cancer

Sep 28, 2026

Bladder cancer presents frequent recurrences and can progress to invasive disease, while sorafenib—a multi-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor—faces clinical limits due to cytotoxicity toward normal cells and aggregation issues in solution. This study forms supramolecular co-aggregates of sorafenib with Congo red (CR) and compares effects across malignancy levels. Sorafenib suppresses proliferation and triggers apoptosis dose-dependently, yet high concentrations harm normal uroepithelial cells. CR-BAY aggregates preserve anti-cancer activity with reduced normal-cell cytotoxicity, inhibit migration and invasion, and show stable co-aggregate formation confirmed by dynamic light scattering and UV-VIS.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

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Pages22

Reading Time55 min

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Article The Potential of Congo Red Supplied Aggregates of Multitargeted Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor (Sorafenib, BAY-43-9006) in Enhancing Therapeutic Impact on Bladder Cancer Małgorzata Lasota 1,2, *, Daniel Jankowski 2,3, Anna Wi´sniewska 4, Michał Sarna 5, Marta Kaczor-Kami ´nska 1, Anna Misterka 1,2, Mateusz Szczepaniak 2,5, Joanna Duli ´nska-Litewka 1 and Andrzej Górecki 3 Citation: Lasota, M.; Jankowski, D.; Wi´sniewska, A.; Sarna, M.; Kaczor-Kami ´nska, M.; Misterka, A.; Szczepaniak, M.; Duli ´nska-Litewka, J.; Górecki, A. The Potential of Congo Red Supplied Aggregates of Multitargeted Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor (Sorafenib, BAY-43-9006) in Enhancing Therapeutic Impact on Bladder Cancer. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25, 269. [https://doi.org/10.3390/](https://doi.org/10.3390/)[ ](https://doi.org/10.3390/)ijms25010269 Academic Editors: Giuseppe Lucarelli and Slawomir Poletajew Received: 7 November 2023 Revised: 15 December 2023 Accepted: 21 December 2023 Published: 23 December 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ([https://](https://)[ ](https://)[creativecommons.org/licenses/by/](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/)[ ](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/)[4.0/](4.0/)) . 1 Chair of Medical Biochemistry, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kopernika 7, 31-034 Krakow, Poland; [marta.b.kaczor@uj.edu.pl](marta.b.kaczor@uj.edu.pl) (M.K.-K.); [anna.misterka@uj.edu.pl](anna.misterka@uj.edu.pl) (A.M.); [joanna.dulinska-litewka@uj.edu.pl](joanna.dulinska-litewka@uj.edu.pl) (J.D.-L.) 2 SSG of Targeted Therapy and Supramolecular Systems, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kopernika 7, 31-034 Krakow, Poland; [daniel.jankowski@student.uj.edu.pl](daniel.jankowski@student.uj.edu.pl) (D.J.); [mateusz.szczepaniak@student.uj.edu.pl](mateusz.szczepaniak@student.uj.edu.pl) (M.S.) 3 Department of Physical Biochemistry, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Krakow, Poland; [andrzej.gorecki@uj.edu.pl](andrzej.gorecki@uj.edu.pl) 4 Chair of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Grzegórzecka 16, 31-531 Krakow, Poland; [anna.niepsuj@uj.edu.pl](anna.niepsuj@uj.edu.pl) 5 Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Krakow, Poland; [michal.sarna@uj.edu.pl](michal.sarna@uj.edu.pl) * [Correspondence: malgorzata.lasota@uj.edu.pl](Correspondence: malgorzata.lasota@uj.edu.pl) Abstract: Bladder cancer is a common malignancy associated with high recurrence rates and potential progression to invasive forms. Sorafenib, a multi-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor, has shown promise in anti-cancer therapy, but its cytotoxicity to normal cells and aggregation in solution limits its clinical application. To address these challenges, we investigated the formation of supramolecular aggregates of sorafenib with Congo red (CR), a bis-azo dye known for its supramolecular interaction. We analyzed different mole ratios of CR-sorafenib aggregates and evaluated their effects on bladder cancer cells of varying levels of malignancy. In addition, we also evaluated the effect of the test compounds on normal uroepithelial cells. Our results demonstrated that sorafenib inhibits the proliferation of bladder cancer cells and induces apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. However, high concentrations of sorafenib also showed cytotoxicity to normal uroepithelial cells. In contrast, the CR-BAY aggregates exhibited reduced cytotoxicity to normal cells while maintaining anti-cancer activity. The aggregates inhibited cancer cell migration and invasion, suggesting their potential for metastasis prevention. Dynamic light scattering and UV-VIS measurements confirmed the formation of stable co-aggregates with

FAQs

Why does sorafenib have limited clinical applicability in bladder cancer?

Sorafenib shows promise as a multi-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor, but its cytotoxicity to normal cells and aggregation in solution restrict clinical use.

How do Congo red–based aggregates affect bladder cancer cells compared with free sorafenib?

CR-sorafenib aggregates inhibit cancer cell proliferation-related effects, induce apoptosis, and reduce cytotoxicity toward normal uroepithelial cells while maintaining anti-cancer activity.

What evidence supports the formation of stable Congo red–sorafenib co-aggregates?

Dynamic light scattering and UV-VIS measurements confirm stable co-aggregates with distinctive spectral properties.

Sep 28, 2026

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