Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS)-Sensitive Prodrugs of the Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Crizotinib

oleh: Bjoern Bielec, Isabella Poetsch, Esra Ahmed, Petra Heffeter, Bernhard K. Keppler, Christian R. Kowol

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2020-03-01

Deskripsi

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors revolutionized cancer therapy but still evoke strong adverse effects that can dramatically reduce patients&#8217; quality of life. One possibility to enhance drug safety is the exploitation of prodrug strategies to selectively activate a drug inside the tumor tissue. In this study, we designed a prodrug strategy for the approved c-MET, ALK, and ROS1 tyrosine kinase inhibitor crizotinib. Therefore, a boronic-acid trigger moiety was attached to the 2-aminopyridine group of crizotinib, which is a crucial position for target kinase binding. The influence of the modifications on the c-MET- and ALK-binding ability was investigated by docking studies, and the strongly reduced interactions could be confirmed by cell-free kinase inhibition assay. Furthermore, the newly synthesized compounds were tested for their activation behavior with H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> and their stability in cell culture medium and serum. Finally, the biological activity of the prodrugs was investigated in three cancer cell lines and revealed a good correlation between activity and intrinsic H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> levels of the cells for prodrug <b>A</b>. Furthermore, the activity of this prodrug was distinctly reduced in a non-malignant, c-MET expressing human lung fibroblast (HLF) cell line.