Interaction of the anticancer gallium(III) complexes of 8-hydroxyquinoline and maltol with human serum proteins

J Biol Inorg Chem. 2015 Jan;20(1):77-88. doi: 10.1007/s00775-014-1211-9. Epub 2014 Nov 15.

Abstract

Tris(8-quinolinolato)gallium(III) (KP46) and tris(maltolato)gallium(III) (GaM) are promising orally active antitumor metallodrugs currently undergoing clinical trials. Their interaction with human serum albumin (HSA) and transferrin (Tf) was studied in detail in aqueous solution by the combination of various methods such as spectrofluorometry, UV-vis spectrophotometry, (1)H and saturation transfer difference NMR spectroscopy, and ultrafiltration-UV-vis spectrophotometry. Binding data were evaluated quantitatively. Tf was found to replace the original ligand much less efficiently in KP46 than in GaM, whereas a significant noncovalent binding of KP46 with HSA (log K' = 4.04) retaining the coordination environment around gallium(III) was found. The interaction between HSA and KP46 was also confirmed by protein-complex modeling calculations. On the basis of the conditional stability constants, the distribution of gallium(III) in serum was computed and compared for these metallodrugs under physiological conditions, and revealed the prominent role of HSA in the case of KP46 and that of Tf for GaM.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents / chemistry*
  • Binding Sites
  • Humans
  • Models, Molecular
  • Organometallic Compounds / chemistry*
  • Oxyquinoline / analogs & derivatives*
  • Oxyquinoline / chemistry
  • Protein Binding
  • Pyrones / chemistry*
  • Serum Albumin / chemistry*
  • Solubility
  • Tissue Distribution

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Organometallic Compounds
  • Pyrones
  • Serum Albumin
  • tris(8-quinolinolato)gallium (III)
  • gallium maltolate
  • maltol
  • Oxyquinoline