Synthesis and antitumor activity of 3'-deamino-3'-hydroxydoxorubicin. A facile procedure for the preparation of doxorubicin analogs

Re-Exploring the Anthracycline Chemical Space for Better Anti-Cancer Compounds

The anthracycline anti-cancer drugs are intensely used in the clinic to treat a wide variety of cancers. They generate DNA double strand breaks, but recently the induction of chromatin damage was introduced as another major determinant of anti-cancer activity. The combination of these two events results in their reported side effects. While our knowledge on the structure-activity relationship of anthracyclines has improved, many structural variations remain poorly explored. Therefore, we here report on the preparation of a diverse set of anthracyclines with variations within the sugar moiety, amine alkylation pattern, saccharide chain and aglycone. We assessed the cytotoxicity in vitro in relevant human cancer cell lines, and the capacity to induce DNA- and chromatin damage. This coherent set of data allowed us to deduce a few guidelines on anthracycline design, as well as discover novel, highly potent anthracyclines that may be better tolerated by patients.

Doxorubicin and Aclarubicin: Shuffling Anthracycline Glycans for Improved Anticancer Agents

Anthracycline anticancer drugs doxorubicin and aclarubicin have been used in the clinic for several decades to treat various cancers. Although closely related structures, their molecular mode of action diverges, which is reflected in their biological activity profile. For a better understanding of the structure-function relationship of these drugs, we synthesized ten doxorubicin/aclarubicin hybrids varying in three distinct features: aglycon, glycan, and amine substitution pattern. We continued to evaluate their capacity to induce DNA breaks, histone eviction, and relocated topoisomerase IIα in living cells. Furthermore, we assessed their cytotoxicity in various human tumor cell lines. Our findings underscore that histone eviction alone, rather than DNA breaks, contributes strongly to the overall cytotoxicity of anthracyclines, and structures containing N,N-dimethylamine at the reducing sugar prove that are more cytotoxic than their nonmethylated counterparts. This structural information will support further development of novel anthracycline variants with improved anticancer activity.

Synthesis and in vitro efficacy of MMP9-activated NanoDendrons

Chemotherapeutics such as doxorubicin (DOX) and paclitaxel (PXL) have dose-limiting systemic toxicities, including cardiotoxicity and peripheral neuropathy. Delivery strategies to minimize these undesirable effects are needed and could improve efficacy, while reducing patient morbidity. Here, DOX and PXL were conjugated to a nanodendron (ND) through an MMP9-cleavable peptide linker, producing two new therapies, ND2(DOX) and ND2(PXL), designed to improve delivery specificity to the tumor microenvironment and reduce systemic toxicity. Comparative cytotoxicity assays were performed between intact ND-drug conjugates and the MMP9 released drug in cell lines with and without MMP9 expression. While ND2(DOX) was found to lose cytotoxicity due to the modification of DOX for conjugation to the ND; ND2(PXL) was determined to have the desired properties for a prodrug delivery system. ND2(PXL) was found to be cytotoxic in MMP9-expressing mouse mammary carcinoma (R221A-luc) (53%) and human breast carcinoma (MDA-MB-231) (66%) at a concentration of 50 nM (in PXL) after 48 h. Treating ND2(PXL) with MMP9 prior to the cytotoxicity assay resulted in a faster response; however, both cleaved and intact versions of the drug reached the same efficacy as the unmodified drug by 96 h in the R221A-luc and MDA-MB-231 cell lines. Further studies in modified Lewis lung carcinoma cells that either do (LLC(MMP9)) or do not (LLC(RSV)) express MMP9 demonstrate the selectivity of ND2(PXL) for MMP9. LLC(MMP9) cells were only 20% viable after 48 h of treatment, while LLC(RSV) were not affected. Inclusion of an MMP inhibitor, GM6001, when treating the LLC(MMP9) cells with ND2(PXL) eliminated the response of the MMP9 expressing cells (LLC(MMP9)). The data presented here suggests that these NDs, specifically ND2(PXL), are nontoxic until activated by MMP9, a protease common in the microenvironment of tumors, indicating that incorporation of chemotherapeutic or cytostatic agents onto the ND platform have potential for tumor-targeted efficacy with reduced in vivo systemic toxicities.

Synthesis and antitumor activity of 7-O-[2,6-dideoxy-2-fluoro-5-C-(trifluoromethyl)-alpha-L-talopyranosyl]- daunomycinone and -adriamycinone

7-O-[2,6-Dideoxy-2-fluoro-5-C-(trifluoromethyl)-alpha-L-talopyranosyl]- daunomycinone and -adriamycinone have been prepared by the coupling of 3,4-di-O-acetyl-2,6-dideoxy-2-fluoro-5-C-(trifluoromethyl)-alpha-L- talopyranosyl iodide with daunomycinone. The key steps in this synthesis are the regioselective fluorination of methyl alpha-D-lyxopyranoside to give the 4-deoxy-4-fluoro-beta-L-ribopyranoside and the C-trifluoromethylation of the aldehydo-L-ribose derivative to give the 1,1,1-trifluoro-5-monofluoro-L-altritol derivative. Antitumor activities of the synthetic products were compared with those for the 2'-deoxy-2'-fluoro and 2',6'-dideoxy-5'-C-trifluoromethyl analogs.

Synthesis and antitumor activity of 7-O-(2,6-dideoxy-2-fluoro-alpha-L-talopyranosyl) daunomycinone derivatives modified at C-3' or C-4'

As a part of a study to exploit anthracycline glycosides effective against resistant tumor cells, the 3'-O-methyl (3), 4'-O-methyl (4), 3'-deoxy (6), 3'-deoxy-3'-fluoro (7), and 3'-deoxy-3'-iodo (8) derivatives of 7-O-(2,6-dideoxy-2-fluoro-alpha-L-talopyranosyl)daunomycinone have been prepared by coupling suitably protected glycosyl bromides with daunomycinone. The doxorubicin-type analog (5) of 4 was also prepared. Among the compounds prepared, 5 showed the highest antitumor activity. Relationships between chemical structures of the synthetic products and antitumor activities, together with the degree of resistance were discussed.

Hydroxyrubicin, a deaminated derivative of doxorubicin, inhibits mammalian DNA topoisomerase II and partially circumvents multidrug resistance

In vivo effectiveness of doxorubicin remains restricted due to toxicity and drug resistance. Hydroxyrubicin is a synthetic analog of doxorubicin in which the basic amino group at the C-3' has been replaced by a hydroxyl group in order to overcome recognition by the multidrug resistant (MDR) P-glycoprotein and limit cardiotoxicity. The present study shows that hydroxyrubicin is a less potent intercalator than doxorubicin. Induction of topoisomerase II-mediated DNA cleavage in the human c-myc origin by the two drugs was similar, reaching a maximum at 0.5 microM. Results from the NCI Cell Screening program indicate a relatively good correlation between the cytotoxicity of the 2 drugs on 55 cell lines of various origins (r = 0.723). Using a clonogenic assay, we observed that hydroxyrubicin was 20-fold more cytotoxic against the MDR KB-V1 cell line than doxorubicin and was slightly more cytotoxic than doxorubicin in the sensitive KB3.1 cell line. Uptake studies showed that doxorubicin was retained up to 1 hr in KB3.1 cells and rapidly eliminated from resistant KB-V1 cells. In contrast, hydroxyrubicin was rapidly eliminated from both sensitive KB3.1 and MDR-positive KB-V1 cells. Both drugs induced protein-linked DNA single-strand breaks (SSBs) in both KB3.1 and KB-V1 cells, which is consistent with topoisomerase inhibition. However, the kinetics of DNA SSBs induced by both drugs was very different. DNA breaks disappeared quickly in both KB3.1 and KB-V1 cell lines after hydroxyrubicin removal while DNA breaks induced by doxorubicin disappeared very slowly in KB3.1 cells and rapidly in KB-V1 cells. We conclude that removal of the basic amino group at the C-3' of doxorubicin modifies drug transport and partially circumvents MDR without changing topoisomerase II inhibition when compared with doxorubicin.

Liposomal formulation and antitumor activity of 14-O-palmitoyl-hydroxyrubicin

The 14-O-palmitoyl ester of 3'-deamino-3'-hydroxydoxorubicin was synthesized to study the liposomal formulation and biological activity properties conferred by the attachment of a lipophilic group to position 14 of the anthracycline molecule. The entrapment efficiency of 14-O-palmitoyl-hydroxyrubicin in multilamellar vesicles composed of dimyristoylphosphatidyl choline and dimyristoylphosphatidyl glycerol was greater than 99%. In addition, the stability of liposomes containing 14-O-palmitoyl-hydroxyrubicin was greater than 99% at 14 days as assessed by the amount of drug leaking out of the liposomes and the absence of crystals of free drug in the liposome pellet. Esterification at position 14 did not significantly decrease the potency of the parent compound 3'-hydroxydoxorubicin. Liposome-entrapped 14-O-palmitoyl-hydroxyrubicin was significantly more active than doxorubicin against two murine tumor models. Against ip L-1210 leukemia, liposome-entrapped 14-O-palmitoyl-hydroxyrubicin injected i.p. into mice at doses of 60 and 80 mg/kg resulted in a %T/C value (median survival of treated/control animals x 100) of greater than 600, with 3-4 of 6 animals being cured, whereas in the same experiments, doxorubicin injected at the optimal dose (10 mg/kg) resulted in a %T/C value of 340, with 1 of 6 animals being cured. In animals bearing liver metastases of M-5076 reticulosarcoma, liposome-entrapped 14-O-palmitoyl-hydroxyrubicin showed significant antitumor activity when given on a three-i.v.-injection schedule of 20 mg/kg on days 4, 8, and 12 (%T/C, 175), whereas doxorubicin injected at optimal doses of 6-8 mg/kg on the same days was devoid of antitumor activity (%T/C, 129-133). These results indicate that esterification at position 14 enhances the affinity of this type of compounds for lipid bilayers without negatively affecting their biological activity.

Synthesis of antitumor-active 7-O-(2,6-dideoxy-2-fluoro-alpha-L-talopyranosyl)-daunomycinone and -adriamycinone

The title compounds (17 and 23) were prepared by coupling 3,4-di-O-acetyl-2,6-dideoxy-2-fluoro-alpha-L-talopyranosyl bromide (15) with daunomycinone. The key step in the preparation of 15 was the epoxide-ring opening of methyl 2,3-anhydro-4-O-benzyl-6-deoxy-alpha-L-gulopyranoside with KHF2 in ethylene glycol, whereupon 2-fluoro-alpha-L-idopyranoside was obtained. Compounds 17 and 23 showed strong antitumor activity.

Synthesis and antitumor activity of 2'-bromo- and 2'-chloro-3'-acetoxy-3'-deaminodaunorubicin analogs

Bromination of 3,4-di-O-acetyl-L-rhamnal (7) and subsequent glycosidic coupling under Koenigs-Knorr conditions with daunomycinone gave a mixture of three compounds having the beta-L-gluco (10), alpha-L-gluco (11), and alpha-L-manno (12) configurations. Analogous bromination of 3,4-di-O-acetyl-L-fucal (13) followed by coupling with daunomycinone gave a mixture of three glycosides having the beta-L-galacto (16), alpha-L-galacto (17), and alpha-L-talo (18) configurations. Chlorination of 7 and coupling with daunomycinone in the presence of silver triflate gave products having the alpha-L-gluco (21) and alpha-L-manno (22) configurations, whereas 13, under similar conditions, gave only one stereoisomeric product, that having the alpha-L-galacto (24) configuration. Compounds 12 and 22 showed high in vivo activity in the P-388 lymphocytic leukemia assay.

Synthesis of (S)-2-fluoro-L-daunosamine and (S)-2-fluoro-D-ristosamine

Derivatives of (S)-2-fluoro-L-daunosamine and (S)-2-fluoro-D-ristosamine were synthesized, starting ultimately from 2-amino-2-deoxy-D-glucose which was converted, according to the literature, into methyl 2-benzamido-4, 6-O-benzylidene-2-deoxy-3-O-(methylsulfonyl)-alpha-D-glucopyranoside (2). Treatment of 2 with tetrabutylammonium fluoride gave a 63% yield of (known) methyl 3-benzamido-4,6-O-benzylidene-2,3-dideoxy-2-fluoro-alpha-D-altropyran oside (4), together with a 6% yield of its 2-benzamido-2,3-dideoxy-3-fluoro-alpha-D-gluco isomer. From 4, the corresponding 6-bromo-2,3,6-trideoxyglycoside 4-benzoate (6) was obtained by Hanessian-Hullar reaction. Dehydrobromination of 6, followed by catalytic hydrogenation of the resulting 5-enoside, and subsequent debenzoylation and N-trifluoroacetylation, afforded the fluorodaunosaminide, methyl 2,3,6-trideoxy-2-fluoro-3-trifluoroacetamido-beta-L-galactopyranos ide. Reductive debromination of 6, followed by debenzoylation and N-trifluoroacetylation, gave the fluororistosaminide, methyl 2,3,6-trideoxy-2-fluoro-3-trifluoroacetamido-alpha-D-altropyran oside. The 1H-n.m.r. spectra of the new aminofluoro sugars are discussed with respect to the effects of neighboring amino and acylamido substituents on geminal and vicinal 1H-19F coupling constants, in comparison with the reported effects of oxygen substituents.

Oxyhalogenation of glycals for the synthesis of anti-tumor-active 2'-halo daunorubicin analogs

Alkoxyhalogenation of L-rhamnal diacetate with daunomycinone and N-iodosuccinimide afforded 37% of 7-O- (3,4-di-O-acetyl-2,6-dideoxy-2-iodo-alpha-L-mannopyranosyl)daunomycin one (4, NSC 331,962) and 7% of the beta-L-gluco analog (NSC 353,457); a similar procedure with L-fucal diacetate gave 77% of 7-O-(3,4-di-O-acetyl-2,6-dideoxy-2-iodo-alpha-L-talopyranosyl) daunomycinone (NSC 327,472). Compound 4 showed high activity (T/C 247) and low toxicity in the P-388 lymphocytic leukemia screen in mice.