Organometallic cluster analogues of tamoxifen: Synthesis and biochemical assay

10.1016/j.jorganchem.2005.08.041Journal of Organometallic Chemistry6911-29-19JORC

Ferrocifens and Ferrocifenols as New Potential Weapons against Breast Cancer

Depending on the presence or absence of the estrogen receptor in the cells, breast cancer today is often treated by endocrine therapy (tamoxifen) or chemotherapy, respectively. We present now a new paradigm for breast cancer treatment, taking advantage of concepts in bioorganometallic chemistry. In this way, we have synthesized molecules containing an organometallic moiety (ferrocene), and a biovector (hydroxytamoxifen), yielding compounds which display a new therapeutic spectrum consisting of antiestrogenicity and cytotoxicity. A structure–activity relationship study has shown that a ferrocene group, linked to a para-phenol group by a conjugated spacer, is a necessary motif for strong cytotoxic effects to be observed

Dose effect activity of ferrocifen-loaded lipid nanocapsules on a 9L-glioma model

International audienceFerrociphenol (Fc-diOH) is a new molecule belonging to the fast-growing family of organometallic anticancer drugs. In a previous study, we showed promising in vivo results obtained after the intratumoural subcutaneous administration of the new drug-carrier system Fc-diOH-LNCs on a 9L-glioma model. To further increase the dose of this lipophilic entity. we have created a series of prodrugs of Fc-diOH. The phenol groups were protected by either an acetyl (Fc-diAc) or by the long fatty-acid chain of a palmitate (Fc-diPal). LNCs loaded with Fc-diOH prodrugs have to be activated in situ by enzymatic hydrolysis. We show here that the protection of diphenol groups with palmitoyl results in the loss of Fc-diOH in vitro activity, probably due to a lack of in situ hydrolysis. On the contrary, protection with an acetate group does not affect the strong, in vitro, anti proliferative effect of ferrocifen-loaded-LNCs neither the reduction of tumour volume observed on an ectopic model, confirming that acetate is easily cleaved by cell hydrolases. Moreover, the cytostatic activity of Fc-diOH-LNCs is confirmed on an orthotopic glioma model since the difference in survival time between the infusion of 0.36 mg/rat Fc-diOH-LNCs and blank LNCs is statistically significant. By using LNCs or Labrafac (R) to carry the drug, a dose-effect ranging from 0.005 to 2.5 mg of Fc-diOH per animal can be evidenced

Facile synthesis and strong antiproliferative activity of disubstituted diphenylmethylidenyl-[3]ferrocenophanes on breast and prostate cancer cell lines

International audienceA series of new 1-[di-(4-R-phenyl)-methylidenyl)]-[3]ferrocenophanes, where R = OH, NH2, NHAc, and the phenyl substitution is mixed or identical, are highly antiproliferative against MDA-MB-231 and PC-3 cancer cells, with IC50 values ranging from 0 05-5 6 mu M on MDA-M B-231 and 0 02-12 5 mu M on PC-

Targeting and treatment of glioblastomas with human mesenchymal stem cells carrying ferrociphenol lipid nanocapsules

Anne Clavreul,1 Angélique Montagu,2 Anne-Laure Lainé,2 Clément Tétaud,2 Nolwenn Lautram,2 Florence Franconi,3 Catherine Passirani,2 Anne Vessières,4 Claudia N Montero-Menei,2 Philippe Menei1 1Département de Neurochirurgie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Angers, France; 2INSERM UMR-S 1066, Université d’Angers, LUNAM Université, Angers, France; 3CIFAB-PRIMEX, Université d’Angers, LUNAM Université, Angers, France; 4CNRS-UMR 7223, ENSCP, Paris, France Abstract: Recently developed drug delivery nanosystems, such as lipid nanocapsules (LNCs), hold great promise for the treatment of glioblastomas (GBs). In this study, we used a subpopulation of human mesenchymal stem cells, “marrow-isolated adult multilineage inducible” (MIAMI) cells, which have endogenous tumor-homing activity, to deliver LNCs containing an organometallic complex (ferrociphenol or Fc-diOH), in the orthotopic U87MG GB model. We determined the optimal dose of Fc-diOH-LNCs that can be carried by MIAMI cells and compared the efficacy of Fc-diOH-LNC-loaded MIAMI cells with that of the free-standing Fc-diOH-LNC system. We showed that MIAMI cells entrapped an optimal dose of about 20 pg Fc-diOH per cell, with no effect on cell viability or migration capacity. The survival of U87MG-bearing mice was longer after the intratumoral injection of Fc-diOH-LNC-loaded MIAMI cells than after the injection of Fc-diOH-LNCs alone. The greater effect of the Fc-diOH-LNC-loaded MIAMI cells may be accounted for by their peritumoral distribution and a longer residence time of the drug within the tumor. These results confirm the potential of combinations of stem cell therapy and nanotechnology to improve the local tissue distribution of anticancer drugs in GB.Keywords: glioblastoma, mesenchymal stem cells, nanoparticle, drug delivery, targeting&nbsp

Ferrocenyl flavonoid-induced morphological modifications of endothelial cells and cytotoxicity against B16 murine melanoma cells

International audienceWith the aim of improving the cytotoxic and vascular disrupting activities of flavonoids, several classes of ferrocenyl-modified flavonoids were prepared and tested on cancer and endothelial cells. Three tenmember series of ferrocenyl flavonoids: chalcones ((E)-1-(R-2'-hydroxypheny1)-3-ferrocenylprop-2-en-1-ones), aurones ((Z)-R-2-(ferrocenylidene)benzofuran-3-ones) and flavones (R-2-ferrocenyl-chromen-4-ones) were synthesized by recently reported methods. Three ferrocenyl flavonols (R-3-hydroxy2-ferrocenyl-chromen-4-ones) and four ferrocenyl flavanones (3-ferrocenylmethylidenyl-R-2-phenyl-chroman-4-ones) were also obtained. All compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxic effects on a cancer cell line (B16 murine melanoma) and for their morphological effects on endothelial cells (EAhy 926). Some interesting structure-activity relationships were disclosed: of all the compounds, the halogen-substituted aurones showed the best cytotoxic activity, with IC50 values ranging between 12 and 18 mu M. Ferrocenyl flavonols and ferrocenyl flavanones with substitution in the 3-position (-OH and =C-Fc respectively) were not active against cancer or endothelial cells. Some of the ferrocenyl flavones caused the endothelial cells to adopt a round shape (''rounding up'') at submicromolar concentrations, which can be predictive of vascular disrupting activity. The most morphologically active flavones showed only moderate cytotoxicity against cancer cells, indicating that they may primarily act as antivascular agents. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Deciphering the Activation Sequence of Ferrociphenol Anticancer Drug Candidates

International audienc