A novel metal–organic chain constructed of dysprosium and sodium ions based on 5-aminopyridine-2-carboxylic acid has been synthesized and characterized. The formation of this 1D-MOF is achieved using a soft solvothermal route with dimethylformamide as solvent. This material displays intense photoluminescence properties in the solid state at room temperature and exhibits SIM behavior with frequency dependence of the out-of-phase susceptibility at zero dc field. More interesting, we report here the magnetic field dependent cytotoxicity and multidrug-resistant properties of this 1D-MOF. This multidisciplinary preliminary study of the applications of this metal complex opens up the possibility of further investigations in the fields of metal-based drugs, luminescence and magnetism.