Development of albumin-binding doxorubicin prodrugs that are cleaved by prostate-specific antigen

Arch Pharm (Weinheim). 2005 Oct;338(10):462-72. doi: 10.1002/ardp.200500130.

Abstract

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a serine protease that is overexpressed in prostate carcinoma and represents a molecular target for selectively releasing an anticancer agent from a prodrug formulation. In this work, we developed albumin-binding prodrugs with the structures MT-Ser-Ser-Tyr-Tyr- Ser-Gly-DOXO, MT-Asn-Ser-Ser-Tyr-Phe-Gln-DOXO (MT = maleimidotriethyleneglycol acid; DOXO = Doxorubicin) or EMC-Arg-Arg-Ser-Ser-Tyr-Tyr-Ser-Gly-DOXO (EMC = epsilon-maleimidocaproic acid; X = amino acid). The maleimide Doxorubicin derivatives bound rapidly to the cysteine-34 position of endogenous and exogenous albumin and were efficiently cleaved by PSA at the P(1)-P'(1) scissile bond, releasing a respective Doxorubicin dipeptide (Ser-Gly-DOXO or Phe-Gln-DOXO). The derivative containing arginine residues (EMC-Arg-Arg-Ser-Ser-Tyr-Tyr-Ser-Gly-DOXO) exhibited excellent water solubility for intravenous administration. Subsequent biological evaluation was focused on a PSA-negative xenograft model (PC 3) and a PSA-positive xenograft model (CWR22) in order to assess the selectivity of our therapeutic approach. EMC-Arg-Arg-Ser-Ser-Tyr-Tyr-Ser-Gly-DOXO showed no in vivo activity in the PSA-negative PC 3 model, but good activity in the CWR22 PSA-positive model that was comparable to Doxorubicin.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Albumins / metabolism*
  • Animals
  • Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / chemical synthesis
  • Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / metabolism*
  • Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / pharmacology
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Doxorubicin / analogs & derivatives*
  • Doxorubicin / chemical synthesis
  • Doxorubicin / metabolism*
  • Doxorubicin / pharmacology
  • Drug Design
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Maleimides / chemical synthesis
  • Maleimides / metabolism*
  • Maleimides / pharmacology
  • Mice
  • Mice, Nude
  • Neoplasm Transplantation
  • Prodrugs / chemical synthesis
  • Prodrugs / metabolism*
  • Prodrugs / pharmacology
  • Prostate-Specific Antigen / chemistry
  • Prostate-Specific Antigen / metabolism*
  • Prostatic Neoplasms / enzymology
  • Protein Binding
  • Solubility
  • Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

Substances

  • Albumins
  • Antibiotics, Antineoplastic
  • Maleimides
  • Prodrugs
  • Doxorubicin
  • Prostate-Specific Antigen