Toward highly potent cancer agents by modulating the c-2 group of the arylthioindole class of tubulin polymerization inhibitors

New arylthioindole derivatives having different cyclic substituents at position 2 of the indole were synthesized as anticancer agents. Several compounds inhibited tubulin polymerization at submicromolar concentration and inhibited cell growth at low nanomolar concentrations. Compounds 18 and 57 were superior to the previously synthesized 5. Compound 18 was exceptionally potent as an inhibitor of cell growth: it showed IC50 = 1.0 nM in MCF-7 cells, and it was uniformly active in the whole panel of cancer cells and superior to colchicine and combretastatin A-4. Compounds 18, 20, 55, and 57 were notably more potent than vinorelbine, vinblastine, and paclitaxel in the NCI/ADR-RES and Messa/Dx5 cell lines, which overexpress P-glycoprotein. Compounds 18 and 57 showed initial vascular disrupting effects in a tumor model of liver rhabdomyosarcomas at 15 mg/kg intravenous dosage. Derivative 18 showed water solubility and higher metabolic stability than 5 in human liver microsomes

Necrosis Avidity of Organic Compounds: a Natural Phenomenon with Exploitable Theragnostic Potentials

Necrosis is an in vivo chaotic event distinguished by uncontrolled disintegration of the cell membrane leading to cytolysis, inflammation and tissue destruction followed by a healing or regenerating process. Targeting necrosis may offer potential diagnostic, therapeutic and/or theragnostic applications in translational medicine. This article reviews the current concept of necrosis including definition, etiology and pathophysiology. The evolution and development of a wide diversity of necrosis targeting agents and their potential applications in preclinical and clinical settings are also elaborated and discussed.status: publishe

Biodistribution and radiation dosimetry of radioiodinated hypericin as a cancer therapeutic

Iodine-131‑labeled monoiodohypericin (131I‑Hyp) is a necrosis avid compound used as a complementary anticancer agent. Herein, the biodistribution in rats with re-perfused partial liver infarction (RPLI) was used to estimate its human internal radiation dosimetry. Iodine-123‑labeled monoiodohypericin (123I-Hyp) as a safer surrogate for 131I-Hyp was prepared with iodogen as oxidant. Determination of radiochemical yield and purification was performed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). To control aggregation, the formulation was macroscopically and microscopically examined. Biodistribution of 123I-Hyp was studied in RPLI rats (n=18) at 4, 24 and 48 h post-injection. Tissue gamma counting (TGC), autoradiography and histology were performed. Dosimetry of 131I-Hyp in hepatic necrosis and in normal human organs was estimated using biodistribution data of 123I-Hyp, the Organ Level Internal Dose Assessment/Exponential Modeling (OLINDA/EXM®), a sphere model and male and female phantoms. A radiochemical yield of 95% was achieved in labeling of 123I-Hyp with a radiochemical purity of 99% after HPLC purification. In the Hyp added formulation, no macroscopic but minimal microscopic aggregation was observed. By TGC, selective accumulation in hepatic infarction and low uptake in viable liver of 123I‑Hyp/Hyp were detected, as confirmed by autoradiography and histology. Significantly higher doses of 131I-Hyp were delivered to necrotic (276‑93,600 mGy/MBq) than to viable (4.2 mGy/MBq) liver (P<0.05). In normal organs, 123I‑Hyp was eliminated within 24 h except for relatively high levels in the lungs and thyroid. Hepatobiliary elimination was a major pathway of 123I-Hyp causing high activity in the intestines. For both genders, dosimetry showed the longest residence time of 131I-Hyp in the remainder, followed by the lungs, intestines and thyroid. The highest absorbed radiation dose was seen in necrotic tissues and the shortest residence times and lowest absorbed radiation dose were found in the brain. 131I-Hyp selectively delivers higher radiation dose to necrosis compared with the rest of the body. Among normal organs, thyroids, lungs and intestines receive considerable radiation dose, which deserves cautious attention in developing this anticancer approach.status: publishe

Rat model of cholelithiasis with human gallstones implanted in cholestasis-induced virtual gallbladder

To facilitate translational research on cholelithiasis, we have developed a rat model of human gallstones by exploiting the unique biliopancreatic features of this species.status: publishe

Detection and quantification of acute reperfused myocardial infarction in rabbits using DISA-SPECT/CT and 3.0T cardiac MRI

Necrosis avid tracer (123)I-hypericin ((123)I-HYP) enables hot-spot imaging on acute myocardial infarction (MI). We explored dual-isotope simultaneous acquisition single photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (DISA-SPECT/CT) by using (123)I-HYP and standard (99m)Tc-sestamibi ((99m)Tc-MIBI), in comparison with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (cMRI), autoradiography (AutoRx) and histomorphometry.publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Detection and quantification of acute reperfused myocardial infarction in rabbits using DISA-SPECT/CT and 3.0T cardiac MRI journaltitle: International Journal of Cardiology articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcard.2013.07.108 content_type: article copyright: Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.status: publishe

Lipomatous metaplasia identified in rabbits with reperfused myocardial infarction by 3.0 T magnetic resonance imaging and histopathology

BACKGROUND: Cardiac lipomatous metaplasia (LM) occurs in patients with chronic ischemic heart disease and heart failure with unclear mechanisms. We studied coronary occlusion/reperfusion-induced myocardial infarction (MI) in rabbits during a 9-months follow-up using 3.0 T magnetic resonance scanner, and confirmed the presence of MI in acute phase and LM in chronic phase using histopathology. METHODS: MI was surgically induced in 10 rabbits by 90-min coronary artery occlusion and reperfusion. Forty-eight hours later, multiparametric cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (cMRI) was performed at a 3.0 T clinical scanner for MI diagnosis and cardiac function analysis. Afterwards, seven rabbits were scarified for histochemical staining with triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC), and hematoxylin-eosin (HE), and 3 were scanned with cMRI at 2 days, 2 weeks, 2 months and 9 months for longitudinal observations of morphological and functional changes, and the fate of the animals. Post-mortem TTC, HE and Masson's trichrome (MTC) were studied for chronic stage of MI. RESULTS: The size of acute MI correlated well between cMRI and TTC staining (r(2)=0.83). Global cardiac morphology-function analysis showed significant correlation between increasing acute MI size and decreasing ejection fraction (p<0.001). During 9 months, cMRI documented evolving morphological and functional changes from acute MI to chronic scar transformation and fat deposition with a definite diagnosis of LM established by histopathology. CONCLUSIONS: Acute MI and chronic LM were induced in rabbits and monitored with 3.0 T MRI. Studies on this platform may help investigate the mechanisms and therapeutic interventions for LM

Exploring Theranostic Potentials of Radioiodinated Hypericin in Rodent Necrosis Models

Objectives: The present animal experiments were conducted to evaluate radioiodinated Hypericin (Hyp) for its regional distribution as well as theranostic potentials.Materials and Methods: Rat models of reperfused liver infarction (RLI) and hepatic rhabdomyosarcoma (R1) were surgically induced. R1 models received Combretastatin A4 phosphate (CA4P) intravenously at 10 mg/kg 24 h prior to radioiodinated Hyp. Three groups of 6 rats each containing 3 RLI and 3 R1 models received iv injections of 123I-Hyp at 37, 74, and 185 MBq/kg respectively and followed by 0.1 ml of 1% Evans blue solution were sacrificed at 4, 24 and 48 hour post injection immediately after in vivo examination of MRI and planar gamma scintigraphy. Besides, two groups of 6 R1 models that received either 300 MBq/kg of 131I-Hyp or vehicle intravenously were examined using MRI to compare tumor growth for 12 days. Autoradiography, gamma counting, and histopathology were performed for postmortem verifications and quantification.Results: Necrosis as seen in vivo on contrast-enhanced MRI corresponded well with the hot spots on planar scintigraphy. Autoradiography and gamma counting revealed intense accumulation of 123I-Hyp in necrotic liver (3.94 &#177; 1.60, 5.38 &#177; 1.04, and 6.03 &#177; 2.09 %ID/g &#177; SD) and necrotic tumor (4.27 &#177; 0.76, 5.57 &#177; 0.76, and 5.68 &#177; 1.33 %ID/g &#177; SD) relative to normal liver (1.76 &#177; 0.54, 0.41 &#177; 0.18, and 0.16 &#177; 0.07 %ID/g &#177; SD), with a high necrosis-to-liver ratio of 2.3, 14.0, and 37.0 at 4, 24 and 48 h respectively. Tumor volumes in R1 models that received 131I-Hyp and vehicle changed from 0.45 &#177; 0.09, and 0.47 &#177; 0.12 cm3 (p &#62; 0.05) on day 0 to1.32 &#177; 0.76 and 3.63 &#177; 0.72 cm3 (p &#60; 0.001) on day 12, with the corresponding necrosis ratios from 73 &#177; 12 %, and 76 &#177; 17 % to 47 &#177; 18% and 17 &#177; 13 % (p &#60; 0.01), and with the tumor DT of 7.3 &#177; 1.0 and 4.2 &#177; 0.7 days, respectively.Conclusions: Radioiodinated Hyp as a necrosis avid tracer appears promising for non-invasive imaging diagnosis of necrosis-related pathologies. Its prominent targetability to necrosis allows targeted radiotherapy for malignancies on top of a prior necrosis-inducing treatment.</p

Mammalian models of chemically induced primary malignancies exploitable for imaging-based preclinical theragnostic research

Compared with transplanted tumor models or genetically engineered cancer models, chemically induced primary malignancies in experimental animals can mimic the clinical cancer progress from the early stage on. Cancer caused by chemical carcinogens generally develops through three phases namely initiation, promotion and progression. Based on different mechanisms, chemical carcinogens can be divided into genotoxic and non-genotoxic ones, or complete and incomplete ones, usually with an organ-specific property. Chemical carcinogens can be classified upon their origins such as environmental pollutants, cooked meat derived carcinogens, N-nitroso compounds, food additives, antineoplastic agents, naturally occurring substances and synthetic carcinogens, etc. Carcinogen-induced models of primary cancers can be used to evaluate the diagnostic/therapeutic effects of candidate drugs, investigate the biological influential factors, explore preventive measures for carcinogenicity, and better understand molecular mechanisms involved in tumor initiation, promotion and progression. Among commonly adopted cancer models, chemically induced primary malignancies in mammals have several advantages including the easy procedures, fruitful tumor generation and high analogy to clinical human primary cancers. However, in addition to the time-consuming process, the major drawback of chemical carcinogenesis for translational research is the difficulty in noninvasive tumor burden assessment in small animals. Like human cancers, tumors occur unpredictably also among animals in terms of timing, location and the number of lesions. Thanks to the availability of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with various advantages such as ionizing-free scanning, superb soft tissue contrast, multi-parametric information, and utility of diverse contrast agents, now a workable solution to this bottleneck problem is to apply MRI for noninvasive detection, diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring on those otherwise uncontrollable animal models with primary cancers. Moreover, it is foreseeable that the combined use of chemically induced primary cancer models and molecular imaging techniques may help to develop new anticancer diagnostics and therapeutics.status: publishe