Prodrugs of anthracyclines for use in antibody-directed enzyme prodrug therapy

J Med Chem. 1998 Sep 10;41(19):3572-81. doi: 10.1021/jm970589l.

Abstract

A series of new prodrugs of daunorubicin and doxorubicin which are candidates for antibody-directed enzyme prodrug therapy (ADEPT) is reported. These compounds (25a,b,c and 32a,b,c) have been designed to generate cytotoxic drugs after activation with beta-glucuronidase. As expected, recovery of the active drug was observed after enzymatic cleavage by Escherichia coli beta-glucuronidase as well as by a fusion protein which has been obtained from human beta-glucuronidase and humanized CEA-specific binding region. The six prodrugs are highly stable and are more than 100-fold less cytotoxic than doxorubicin against murine L1210 cell lines. The ortho-substituted phenyl carbamates 25a,b,c are better substrates for beta-glucuronidase than the corresponding para-substituted analogues. After taking into account additional factors such as stability in plasma and kinetics of enzymatic cleavage, we selected the o-nitro prodrug 25c for clinical trials.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / chemical synthesis*
  • Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / chemistry
  • Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / metabolism
  • Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / pharmacology
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal / immunology
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal / pharmacology*
  • Carcinoembryonic Antigen / genetics
  • Carcinoembryonic Antigen / immunology
  • Cell Division / drug effects
  • Daunorubicin / chemistry*
  • Daunorubicin / pharmacology
  • Doxorubicin / analogs & derivatives*
  • Doxorubicin / chemical synthesis
  • Doxorubicin / chemistry*
  • Doxorubicin / metabolism
  • Doxorubicin / pharmacology
  • Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor
  • Drug Stability
  • Escherichia coli / enzymology
  • Glucuronates / chemical synthesis*
  • Glucuronates / chemistry
  • Glucuronates / metabolism
  • Glucuronates / pharmacology
  • Glucuronidase / genetics
  • Glucuronidase / pharmacology
  • Humans
  • Hydrolysis
  • Immunoglobulin Fab Fragments / genetics
  • Immunoglobulin Fab Fragments / immunology
  • Kinetics
  • Leukemia L1210 / pathology
  • Mice
  • Prodrugs / chemical synthesis*
  • Prodrugs / chemistry
  • Prodrugs / metabolism
  • Prodrugs / pharmacology
  • Rats
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / immunology
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / pharmacology
  • Structure-Activity Relationship
  • Tumor Cells, Cultured

Substances

  • Antibiotics, Antineoplastic
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal
  • Carcinoembryonic Antigen
  • Glucuronates
  • Immunoglobulin Fab Fragments
  • N-(4-glucuronyl-3-nitrobenzyloxycarbonyl)doxorubicin
  • Prodrugs
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins
  • Doxorubicin
  • Glucuronidase
  • Daunorubicin