A series of indolequinones bearing a range of substituents at the (indol-2-yl)methyl position has been synthesized. The ability of these indolequinones to act as substrates for recombinant human NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1), a two-electron reductase upregulated in tumour cells, was determined, along with their toxicity to an isogenic tumour cell line pair that is differentiated as either NQO1-expressing cells (BE-NQ) or NQO1-null cells (BE-WT). Overall, the 2-substituted indolequinones were relatively poor substrates for NQO1. Hydroxymethyl groups at C-2 led to higher rates of reduction, a finding that was observed previously with 3-hydroxymethylated indolequinones. Predictably, the best substrate had an electron-withdrawing ester group at the indole-2-position. The indolequinones were generally non-toxic to both cell lines with the exception of those quinones that had methylaziridine groups at the indole-5-position. These compounds could form DNA cross-links when activated by reduction and were up to 3-fold more toxic to the BE-NQ cells than the BE-WT cells.
一系列在(
吲哚-2-基)亚甲基位置带有不同取代基的
吲哚醌已被合成。这些
吲哚醌作为
重组人
NAD(P)H:醌氧化还原酶(NQO1)底物的能力,以及它们对一对同
基因肿瘤
细胞系的毒性(该
细胞系分为NQO1表达细胞(BE-NQ)或NQO1缺陷细胞(BE-WT))已被测定。总体来说,2-取代的
吲哚醌是NQO1相对较差的底物。C-2位置上的羟甲基导致了更高的还原速率,这一发现与先前观察到的3-羟甲基化
吲哚醌的情况一致。可以预见的是,最佳底物在
吲哚-2-位置有一个吸电子的酯基团。除了在
吲哚-5-位置带有甲基
氮丙啶基团的
醌类化合物外,这些
吲哚醌对两种
细胞系普遍无毒。这些化合物在通过还原活化后能够形成DNA交联,并且对BE-NQ细胞的毒性是BE-WT细胞的3倍之多。