摘要:
The epipodophyllotoxin etoposide is a potent and widely used anticancer drug that targets DNA topoisomerase II. The synthesis, photochemical, and biological testing of a photoactivatable aromatic azido analogue of etoposide also containing an iodo group is described. This azido analogue should prove useful for identifying the etoposide interaction site on topoisomerase II, Irradiation of the azido analogue and an aldehyde-conntaining azido precursor with UV light produced changes in their UV-visible spectra that were consistent with photoactivation. The azido analogue strongly inhibited topoisomerase II and inhibited the growth of Chinese Hamster Ovary cells. Azido analogue-induced topoisomerase II-DNA covalent complexes were significantly increased subsequent to UV irradiation of drug-treated human leukemia K562 calls as compared to etoposide-treated cells. These results suggest that the photoactivated form of etoposide is a more effective topoisomerase II poison either by interacting directly with the enzyme or with DNA subsequent to topoisnmerase II-mediated strand cleavage. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.