No description available.

No / NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase-1 (NQO1) is a potential target for therapeutic intervention but attempts to exploit NQO1 using quinone-based bioreductive prodrugs have been largely compromised by toxicity to organs that inherently express high levels of NQO1. In an attempt to circumvent this problem, this study describes the development of a tripartite quinone-based drug delivery system, the ultimate objective of which is to release a targeted therapeutic agent following the reduction of a quinone "trigger" by NQO1. Molecular modeling of drug/NQO1 interactions were conducted prior to the synthesis of N-{4-[bis-(2-chloroethyl)-amino]-phenyl}-beta,beta,2,4,5-pentamethyl-3,6-dioxo-1,4-cyclohexadiene-1-propanamide (prodrug 1). Prodrug 1 is a good substrate for purified NQO1 (V(max) and K(m) values of 11.86 +/- 3.09 micromol/min/mg and 2.70 +/- 1.14 micromol/L, respectively) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of the metabolites generated showed that lactone 3 and aniline mustard 4 were generated in a time- and NQO1-dependent manner. Chemosensitivity studies showed that prodrug 1 is selectively toxic to cells that overexpress NQO1 under aerobic conditions, and comet assay analysis confirmed the presence of elevated interstrand cross-links in NQO1-rich compared with NQO1-deficient cells. Hypoxic sensitization (hypoxic cytotoxicity ratio = 15.8) was observed in T47D cells that overexpress cytochrome P450 reductase. In conclusion, the results of this study provide mechanistic proof of principle that a tripartite benzoquinone drug delivery system is enzymatically reduced to release an active therapeutic agent. Further development of this concept to fine-tune substrate specificity for specific reductases and/or the inclusion of alternative therapeutic agents is warranted.

yes / CC-1065, the duocarmycins and yatakemycin are members of a family of ultrapotent antitumour antibiotics that have been the subject of extensive investigations due to their mode of action and potential in the design of new anticancer therapeutics. The natural products and their analogues exert their effects through a sequence selective alkylation of duplex DNA in the minor groove at the N3 of adenine. An understanding of their structure and its effect on biological activity has been derived through chemical synthesis and has also generated new potential lead compounds. These studies form the first section of the review. The desire to progress these compounds to clinic has also led to studies of bioconjugation and prodrug formation and this is discussed in the second section of the review. The combination of synthesis with key biological experiments is a powerful tool to define the requirements for the development of natural products as potential therapeutic agents. The studies described herein form an excellent paradigm for the study and development of other natural products. / EPSRC, Yorkshire Cancer Research, Big C Cancer Research, UCB Pharma

<p>Metastasis of primary mammary tumors to vital secondary organs is the primary cause of breast cancer-associated death, with no effective treatment. Metastasis is a highly selective process that requires cancer cells to overcome multiple barriers to escape the primary tumor, survive in circulation, and eventually colonize distant secondary organs. One of the important aspects of metastatic cancers is the ability to undergo epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the reverse process mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) process. Constant interconversion of tumor cells between these phenotypes creates epithelial-mesenchymal heterogeneity (EMH) and interaction between these tumor cell types and the stromal cell compartment is clearly important to metastasis. In healthy tissues, stromal cells maintain the composition and structure of the tissue through the production of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins and paracrine signaling with epithelial cells. However, little is known about how EMH promotes changes in the ECM to promote breast cancer progression and metastasis. Cancer cells also secret exosomes, nano-size extracellular vesicles, to establish intercellular communication with distant organs in order to induce metastasis. These exosomes contain a plethora of different proteins including extracellular matrix proteins and matrix crosslinking enzymes. Fibronectin, an important ECM protein, plays an active role in tumor progression and is often crosslinked by tissue transglutaminase 2 (TGM2) to promote fibrosis in cancer. Both FN and TGM2 exist in exosomes and are expressed by heterogenous breast tumors. Although FN and TGM2 have been reported to play essential roles in cancer, their involvement in metastasis remains unclear. This work utilizes a variety of approaches to investigate the role of tumor heterogeneity and ECM proteins in promoting breast cancer metastasis. In this dissertation, we establish that mesenchymal cells expressing intracellular FN are held in a stable non-metastatic mesenchymal phenotype and produce cellular fibrils containing functionalized FN capable of supporting the growth of metastatic competent epithelial cells. We introduce a novel 3D culture system consisting of a tessellated scaffold which is capable of recapitulating cellular and matrix phenotypes <i>in vivo. </i>Further, we also demonstrate breast tumor cells secrete exosomes containing TGM2 crosslinked FN fibrils to promote premetastatic niche formation and induction of metastasis.<i> </i>Using genetic approaches, we establish TGM2 is essential and sufficient to drive metastasis. Finally, we demonstrate pharmacological inhibition of TGM2 offers a potential therapeutic strategy to treat metastatic breast cancer. Altogether, our research provides insights into the mechanism through which TGM2 promotes metastatic breast cancer. This work will help in developing new drugs to target TGM2 aimed at reducing breast cancer metastasis.<br></p>