Novel tumor-targeted RGD peptide–camptothecin conjugates: Synthesis and biological evaluation
摘要:
Five RGD peptide-camptothecin (CPT) conjugates were designed and synthesized with the purpose to improve the therapeutic index of this antitumoral drug family. New RGD cyclopeptides were selected on the basis of their high affinity to alpha(v) integrin receptors overexpressed by tumor cells and their metabolic stability. The conjugates can be divided in two groups: in the first the peptide was attached to the drug through an amide bond, in the second through a hydrazone bond. The main difference between the two spacers lies in their acid stability. Affinity to the receptors was maintained for all conjugates and their internalization into tumor cells was demonstrated. The first group conjugates showed lower in vitro and in vivo activity than the parent drug, probably due to the excessive stability of the amide bond, even inside the tumor cells. Conversely, the hydrazone conjugates exhibited in vitro tumor cell inhibition similar to the parent drug, indicating high conversion in the culture medium and/or inside the cells, but their poor solubility hampered in vivo experiments. On the basis of these results, information was acquired for additional development of derivatives with different linkers and better solubility for in vivo evaluation. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Lactenediynes are compounds characterized by the fusion of a beta-lactam with a cyclodeca-3-ene-1,5-diyne. In this work the most promising members of this family have been activated by attaching a carbalkoxy or a carbamoyl group to the azetidinone nitrogen, and conjugated to various DNA-complexing moieties, either acting by intercalation or through groove binding. These conjugated artificial enediynes have been demonstrated to possess in vitro ability to produce single and double strand cleavage of plasmid DNA. As potency and capacity to induce double cut, they rank among the best simple enediyne analogues ever prepared. A thorough investigation was carried out in order to develop the best suited linkers for assembling these conjugates. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.