Disclosed are prodrugs of inactivators of O6-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase (AGT). The prodrugs are cleavable by the β-glucuronidase enzyme, which is either administered to the patient or produced by necrotic tumor cells. The prodrugs are represented by the formula A-B-C, wherein A is a glucuronosyl residue linked through its 1-oxygen to the phenyl ring of B; B is a benzyloxycarbonyl group, optionally ring-substituted with one or more electron withdrawing groups; and C is an inactivator of AGT, e.g., a substituted or unsubstituted O6-benzylguanine or O6-benzyl-2′-deoxyguanosine. Also disclosed are additional inactivators of AGT, pharmaceutical compositions comprising an inactivator or prodrug and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, and a method of use of the inactivator or prodrug in enhancing the chemotherapeutic treatment of tumor cells in a mammal, e.g., a human, with an antineoplastic alkylating agent that causes cytotoxic lesions at the O6-position of guanine.
本发明涉及一种O6-烷基
鸟嘌呤-DNA烷基转移酶(AGT)不活化剂的前药。该前药可被β-
葡萄糖醛酸酶酶
水解,该酶可以被注射给患者或者由坏死的肿瘤细胞产生。该前药的
化学式为A-B-C,其中A是通过其1-氧原子与B的苯环连接的
葡萄糖醛酸残基;B是苄氧羰基基团,可以选择性地带有一个或多个电子提取基;而C是AGT的不活化剂,例如,取代或未取代的O6-苄基
鸟嘌呤或O6-苄基-
2'-脱氧鸟苷。本发明还涉及AGT的其他不活化剂,包括含有不活化剂或前药和药学上可接受的载体的制剂,以及使用不活化剂或前药增强哺乳动物(例如人类)的肿瘤细胞化疗治疗的方法,该化疗药物在
鸟嘌呤的O6位引起细胞毒性损伤。