C8-substituted imidazotetrazine analogs overcome temozolomide resistance by inducing DNA adducts and DNA damage

Copyright © 2019 Yang, Wei, Dai, Stevens, Bradshaw, Luo and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. Temozolomide (TMZ) is the standard of care chemotherapeutic agent used in the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme. Cytotoxic O6-methylguaine lesions formed by TMZ are repaired by O6-methyl-guanine DNA methyltransferase (MGMT), a DNA repair protein that removes alkyl groups located at the O6-position of guanine. Response to TMZ requires low MGMT expression and functional mismatch repair. Resistance to TMZ conferred by MGMT, and tolerance to O6-methylguanine lesions conferred by deficient MMR severely limit TMZ clinical applications. Therefore, development of new TMZ derivatives that can overcome TMZ-resistance is urgent. In this study, we investigated the anti-tumor mechanism of action of two novel TMZ analogs: C8-imidazolyl (377) and C8-methylimidazole (465) tetrazines. We found that analogs 377 and 465 display good anticancer activity against MGMT-overexpressing glioma T98G and MMR deficient colorectal carcinoma HCT116 cell lines with IC50 value of 62.50, 44.23, 33.09, and 25.37 μM, respectively. Analogs induce cell cycle arrest at G2/M, DNA double strand break damage and apoptosis irrespective of MGMT and MMR status. It was established that analog 377, similar to TMZ, is able to ring-open and hydrolyze under physiological conditions, and its intermediate product is more stable than MTIC. Moreover, DNA adducts of 377 with calf thymus DNA were identified: N7-methylguanine, O6-methylguanine, N3-methyladenine, N3-methylthymine, and N3-methylcytidine deoxynucleotides. We conclude that C8 analogs of TMZ share a mechanism of action similar to TMZ and are able to methylate DNA generating O6-methylguanine adducts, but unlike TMZ are able at least in part to thwart MGMT- and MMR-mediated resistance

Delivery of temozolomide and N3-propargyl analog to brain tumors using an apoferritin nanocage

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a grade IV astrocytoma, which is the most aggressive form of brain tumor. The standard of care for this disease includes surgery, radiotherapy and temozolomide (TMZ) chemotherapy. Poor accumulation of TMZ at the tumor site, tumor resistance to drug, and dose-limiting bone marrow toxicity eventually reduce the success of this treatment. Herein, we have encapsulated >500 drug molecules of TMZ into the biocompatible protein nanocage, apoferritin (AFt), using a "nanoreactor" method (AFt-TMZ). AFt is internalized by transferrin receptor 1-mediated endocytosis and is therefore able to facilitate cancer cell uptake and enhance drug efficacy. Following encapsulation, the protein cage retained its morphological integrity and surface charge; hence, its cellular recognition and uptake are not affected by the presence of this cargo. Additional benefits of AFt include maintenance of TMZ stability at pH 5.5 and drug release under acidic pH conditions, encountered in lysosomal compartments. MTT assays revealed that the encapsulated agents displayed significantly increased antitumor activity in U373V (vector control) and, remarkably, the isogenic U373M (MGMT expressing TMZ-resistant) GBM cell lines, with GI50 values 500 molecules of the N3-propargyl imidazotetrazine analog (N3P), developed to combat TMZ resistance, and demonstrated significantly enhanced activity of AFt-N3P against GBM and colorectal carcinoma cell lines. These studies support the use of AFt as a promising nanodelivery system for targeted delivery, lysosomal drug release, and enhanced imidazotetrazine potency for treatment of GBM and wider-spectrum malignancies

Modulation of the acidity of the 8-carboxamide group in the temozolomide family of antitumor imidazo[5,1-d][1,2,3,5]tetrazines

Imidazo[5,1-d][1,2,3,5]tetrazines related in structure to the anticancer drugs temozolomide and mitozolomide with modification of the 8-carboxamide group, have been synthesized, N-nitrocarboxamides by direct nitration of the corresponding carboxamides, and N-cyanomitazolomide by sodium cyanamide acylation. The NH groups in the N-nitro- and N-cyano-carboxamides were considerably more acidic than the parent carboxamide, and readily formed salts with morpholine and imidazole. X-Ray crystallography revealed that the N-nitro compound existed as such rather than the nitronic acid tautomer. Preliminary evaluation showed that enhancing the acidity of the carboxamide NH in mitozolomide analogues was detrimental to the growth inhibitory activity

Whole-genome sequencing reveals host factors underlying critical COVID-19

Critical COVID-19 is caused by immune-mediated inflammatory lung injury. Host genetic variation influences the development of illness requiring critical care1 or hospitalization2,3,4 after infection with SARS-CoV-2. The GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care) study enables the comparison of genomes from individuals who are critically ill with those of population controls to find underlying disease mechanisms. Here we use whole-genome sequencing in 7,491 critically ill individuals compared with 48,400 controls to discover and replicate 23 independent variants that significantly predispose to critical COVID-19. We identify 16 new independent associations, including variants within genes that are involved in interferon signalling (IL10RB and PLSCR1), leucocyte differentiation (BCL11A) and blood-type antigen secretor status (FUT2). Using transcriptome-wide association and colocalization to infer the effect of gene expression on disease severity, we find evidence that implicates multiple genes—including reduced expression of a membrane flippase (ATP11A), and increased expression of a mucin (MUC1)—in critical disease. Mendelian randomization provides evidence in support of causal roles for myeloid cell adhesion molecules (SELE, ICAM5 and CD209) and the coagulation factor F8, all of which are potentially druggable targets. Our results are broadly consistent with a multi-component model of COVID-19 pathophysiology, in which at least two distinct mechanisms can predispose to life-threatening disease: failure to control viral replication; or an enhanced tendency towards pulmonary inflammation and intravascular coagulation. We show that comparison between cases of critical illness and population controls is highly efficient for the detection of therapeutically relevant mechanisms of disease

Antitumor Polycyclic Acridines. Part 16. Triplex DNA as a Target for DNA-Binding Polycyclic Acridine Derivatives

Triple-stranded DNA structures have been implicated in a number of major biological processes, including the transcription and translation of a number of genes, as well as in the interaction of DNA with a number of proteins. Furthermore, antigene therapies under development are based on the recognition and binding of a single oligonucleotide strand to a double-stranded sequence, thus forming a triple helix. Triplex DNA formation is a relatively weak and temporary phenomenon; therefore, molecules that selectively bind to and stabilize triple helices may show a variety of novel biological effects. The biophysical and biological characterization of a series of antitumor polycyclic acridines that bind to triplex DNA is reported. These compounds, whose synthesis has been previously reported, have been tested for their interaction with both purine and pyrimidine type triple helices and compared with the relevant double-stranded DNA. As a pyrimidine triplex model we have used the T*AT sequence, which we have compared with the AT duplex, whereas the purine triplex oligonucleotide d[G(3)A(4)G(3)]*d[G(3)A(4)G(3)].d[C3T4C3] has been compared with the duplex d[G(3)A(4)G(3)].d[C3T4C3]. The compounds demonstrate various degrees of preferential binding to triplex DNA over normal duplex DNA, as measured by UV, fluorescence, circular dichroism, and thermal denaturation. Tri-substituted acridine derivatives demonstrated the highest affinity and ability to stabilize triplex DNA structures. Furthermore, structure/affinity analysis gives insights into the structural features that optimize affinity and selectivity for triplex DNA, and may play a role in their profile of antitumor activity

Antitumor polycyclic acridines. Part 12. Physical and biological properties of 8,13-diethyl-6-methylquino[4,3,2-kl]acridinium iodide: a lead compound in anti-cancer drug design

The biophysical and biological characterization of 8,13-diethyl-6-methylquino[4,3,2-kl]acridinium iodide (6) is reported. The compound binds to DNA, as measured by UV, fluorescence, and circular dichroism studies, and stabilizes the double helix and higher order DNA structures (DNA triplexes and quadruplexes) against thermal denaturation. Unlike many DNA ligands, (6) shows no specificity for binding to specific base pair combinations and does not inhibit topoisomerase I (topo 1) or topo II activity. Furthermore, the biological fingerprint elicited by (6) in in vitro evaluations does not compare with clinical agents of the topo H inhibition class. The compound provokes cell cycle arrest in response to DNA damage and the biological sequelae are dependent on the p53 status of the cell line. DNA damage by (6) upregulates p53 and p2l(CIP/) WAR proteins. The unusual structure of (6) and its ease of synthesis in a "one-pot" reaction are features that are being exploited in the design and development of a new series of G-quadruplex stabilizing telomerase inhibitors. However, although the second-generation compounds that resulted from (6) present strong telomerase inhibition, (6) in itself presents yet a different mode of action, with a strong preference for triplex DNA, sequences often found in a number of genes

Antitumor imidazo[5,1-d]-1,2,3,5-tetrazines: compounds modified at the 3-position overcome resistance in human glioblastoma cell lines

Synthetic routes to 3-substituted imidazo[5,1-d]-1,2,3,5-tetrazines structurally related to temozolomide were explored. Interaction of 4-diazoimidazole-5-carboxamide with an isocyanate afforded high product yields when the isocyanate was available in acceptable purity. Alternatively, alkylation of the nor-temozolomide anion afforded high yields of new imidazotetrazines. Several compounds, evaluated against a panel containing matched MGMT± glioma cell lines, showed equal inhibitory activity irrespective of MGMT status; the N3-propargyl-imidazotetrazine (10m) was prioritised as an alternative to temozolomide able to bypass drug-resistance mechanisms. In Taq polymerase assays 10m, like temozolomide and its ring-opened counterpart MTIC, alkylated DNA at clusters of three and five guanine residues; covalent modification of N-7 sites of guanine were detected in piperidine cleavage assays. Compound 10m did not cross-link DNA but induced double-strand breaks evidenced by γ-H2AX detection. Propargyl-substituted imidazotriazene (13g), showed comparable activity to 10m indicating that ring-opening of the bicyclic nucleus of novel imidazotetrazine is probably required for activity

2-(4-Amino-3-methylphenyl)-5-fluorobenzothiazole is a ligand and shows species-specific partial agonism of the Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor

2-(4-Amino-3-methylphenyl)-5-fluorobenzothiazole (5F 203) and related compounds are a series of anti-cancer candidate pharmaceuticals (Table 1.), that have been shown to activate the AhR. We show that these compounds are high affinity ligands for the rat AhR, but a quantitative assay for their ability to induce CYP1A1 RNA in H4IIEC3 cells, a measure of activation of the AhR, showed a poor relationship between affinity for the AhR and ability to induce CYP1A1 RNA. 5F 203, an agonist with low potency, was able to antagonise the induction of CYP1A1 RNA by TCDD, while IH 445, a potent agonist, did not antagonise the induction of CYP1A1 RNA by TCDD, and Schild analysis confirmed 5F 203 to be a potent antagonist of the induction of CYP1A1 RNA by TCDD in H4IIEC3 cells. In contrast, several benzothiazoles show potent induction of CYP1A1 RNA in human MCF-7 cells, and 5F 203 is unable to detectably antagonise the induction of CYP1A1 RNA in MCF-7 cells, showing a species difference in antagonism. Evaluation of the antiproliferative activity of benzothiazoles showed that the ability to agonise the AhR correlated with growth inhibition both in H4IIEC3 cells for a variety of benzothiazoles, and between H4IIEC3 and MCF-7 cells for 5F 203, suggesting an important role of agonism of the AhR in the anti-proliferative activity of benzothiazoles

TRF2 inhibition triggers apoptosis and reduces tumourigenicity of human melanoma cells

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