5-propynylpyrimidine nucleoside derivatives: rationally designed mechanism-based inactivators of thymidylate synthase

Synthesis of 5-fluoroalkylated pyrimidine nucleosides via Negishi cross-coupling

5-Fluoroalkylated pyrimidine nucleosides (1) have potential as therapeutic agents and molecular imaging agents targeting HSV1-tk suicide gene therapy. Thus, straightforward preparation of 5-fluoroalkylated nucleoside derivatives has been developed. Reported herein are the first examples of Pd-catalyzed Negishi cross-coupling of 3-N-benzoyl-3',5'-di-O-benzoyl-5-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine (2a) and 3-N-benzoyl-3',5'-di-O-benzoyl-5-iodo-2'-deoxy-2'-fluoroarabinouridine (2b) with unactivated Csp(3) fluoroalkylzinc bromides. This paper demonstrates the first synthesis of six 5-fluoroalkyl-2'-deoxypyrimidine nucleoside derivatives with three to five methylene chain lengths (5). Furthermore, this methodology has been extended to create a series of 13 5-alkyl-substituted nucleosides, including the target nucleosides 5 and 5-silyloxypropyl and 5-cyanobutyl derivatives.

The effect of 5-substitution in the pyrimidine ring of dUMP on the interaction with thymidylate synthase: molecular modeling and QSAR

Thymidylate synthase (TS) is a target enzyme for a number of anticancer agents including the 5-fluorouracil metabolite, FdUMP. The present paper reports on molecular modeling studies of the effect of substitution at C(5) position in the pyrimidine ring of the TS substrate, dUMP, on the binding affinity for the enzyme. The results of molecular dynamics simulations show that the binding of C(5) analogues of dUMP to TS in the binary complexes does not undergo changes, unless a substituent with a large steric effect, such as the propyl group, is involved. On the other hand, apparent differences in the binding of the TS cofactor, resulting from varying substitution at dUMP C(5), are observed in the modeled structures of the ternary complexes of TS. These binding characteristics are supplemented with a classical QSAR model quantifying the relation between the affinity for TS and the substituent electronic and steric effects of C(5) analogues of dUMP. Based on the findings from the present work, the perspectives for finding promising new C(5) analogues of dUMP as potential agents targeted against TS are discussed.

Evaluation of C-5 propynyl pyrimidine-containing oligonucleotides in vitro and in vivo

Inclusion of C-5 propynyl pyrimidines in phosphorothioate antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) has been shown to significantly increase their potency for inhibiting gene expression in vitro. This increased potency is believed to be the result of enhanced binding affinity to target RNA. Our results show that C-5 propynyl pyrimidine-modified oligonucleotides caused an increase in the melting temperature (T(m)) of both oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) and 2'-O-(2-methoxy)ethyl (2'-MOE)-modified oligonucleotides. The in vitro data show a moderate increase in potency for an antisense oligodeoxynucleotide containing C-5 propynyl pyrimidines targeting the murine PTEN (MMAC1) transcript. Second-generation 2'-MOE chimeric ASOs containing C-5 propynyl pyrimidines showed no improvement in potency in PTEN target reduction in vitro or in vivo compared to their nonpropyne-modified parent. These results suggest that increasing affinity for target RNA beyond that achieved with the 2'-MOE modification does not further increase potency in cell-based assays. To evaluate whether this observation held true for in vivo applications, we evaluated both compounds in mice. We were unable to establish a dose-response relationship with C-5 propynyl pyrimidine-modified ODNs because of severe toxicity. The toxicity was characterized by mortality in animals receiving 50 mg/kg and an increase in infiltrating cells and apoptotic cells in livers of mice receiving 20 mg/kg. C-5 propynyl pyrimidine-modified chimeric oligonucleotides exhibited decreased hepatotoxicity compared with C-5 propynyl-modified ODNs but did not exhibit an increase in potency compared with unmodified chimeric oligonucleotides. The hepatotoxicity could be further limited if incorporation of propynyl pyrimidines was restricted to 2'-MOE nucleosides.