Corrigendum to ‘Synthesis of Aminoglycoside–DNA Conjugates’ [Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 12 (2002) 1259]

Synthesis, Characterization and in vitro Studies of a Cathepsin B-Cleavable Prodrug of the VEGFR Inhibitor Sunitinib

Since several decades, the prodrug concept has raised considerable interest in cancer research due to its potential to overcome common problems associated with chemotherapy. However, for small‐molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors, which also cause severe side effects, hardly any strategies to generate prodrugs for therapeutic improvement have been reported so far. Here, we present the synthesis and biological investigation of a cathepsin B‐cleavable prodrug of the VEGFR inhibitor sunitinib. Cell viability assays and Western blot analyses revealed, that, in contrast to the non‐cathepsin B‐cleavable reference compound, the prodrug shows activity comparable to the original drug sunitinib in the highly cathepsin B‐expressing cell lines Caki‐1 and RU‐MH. Moreover, a cathepsin B cleavage assay confirmed the desired enzymatic activation of the prodrug. Together, the obtained data show that the concept of cathepsin B‐cleavable prodrugs can be transferred to the class of targeted therapeutics, allowing the development of optimized tyrosine kinase inhibitors for the treatment of cancer.

5-Phenylcoumarin Derivatives: Design, Synthesis, and Vasodilatory Activity

In continuation of our previous efforts towards the development of coumarin derivatives with potential vasodilatory activity, 5-phenylcoumarin derivatives were designed and synthesized. Target compounds and their precursors exhibited moderately vasodilatory ability with EC₅₀ at 2.5-49.0 μm. Docking studies also revealed the good binding mode of 7-methoxy-8-[2-(pyrrolidin-1-yl)ethoxy]-5-[2-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]-2H-chromen-2-one (8c) with the target protein. Moreover, intermediates and the final products exhibited different fluorescent properties due to their substituent effect. These results may provide new ideas for the synthesis and application of 5-substituted coumarins.