Synthesis of novel quinazolines for the treatment of tumors under hypoxia and nitroimidazole for diagnosis by PET

Author(s)

Paulo Sergio Gonçalves Nunes

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: Ribeirão Preto.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto (PCARP/BC)
• Defense date: 2018-10-16

Examining board members

Ivone Carvalho; Emerson Soares Bernardes; Giuliano Cesar Clososki; Flavio da Silva Emery

• Advisor: Ivone Carvalho

Abstract

Tumor hypoxia is resistant to conventional antitumor therapy by different mechanisms. The use of non-invasive molecular diagnostic methods, such as PET imaging, allows the identification of tumors under hypoxia and assists in designing the most appropriate therapeutic strategy. Currently, several researches have provided alternative treatments for tumors under hypoxia, exploring some specific properties, such as tumor reducing potential and inhibition of adaptive mechanisms required for cell survival under hypoxia. Thus in this work, it was performed the synthesis and in vivo evaluation of new 2-nitroimidazole derivative, containing the zwitterionic hydrophilic group, ammonium methyl- trifluoroborate (AMBF3), 18F-AmBF3-bu-2NI, with potential for tumor imaging in hypoxia. The compound AmBF3-bu-2NI was easily prepared in four steps. 18F labeling was conducted via 18F-19F isotope exchange reaction, and 18F-AmBF3-bu-2NI was obtained in 14.8 ± 0.4% (n = 3) decay-corrected radiochemical yield with 24.5 ± 5.2 GBq/?mol specific activity and > 99% radiochemical purity. Imaging and biodistribution ex vivo studies in HT-29 tumor-bearing mice showed that 18F-AmBF3-bu-2NI cleared quickly from blood, and was excreted via the hepatobiliary and renal pathways. However, tumor PET images were not visualized until 3 h post-injection due to low tumor uptake (0.54 ± 0.13 and 0.19 ± 0.04%ID/g at 1 h and 3 h post-injection, respectively) due to non-diffusion of 18F-AmBF3-bu-2NI through the cell membrane. Additionally, quinazolinic compounds with potential diagnostic application were also synthesized containing biorreductive units, nitrobenzyl and nitroimidazole, as well as a fluoroethyl group, initially containing 19F (cold), as an analytical standard for the synthesis of the radiotracer. However, due to the formation of volatile products during the radiosynthesis of the 2-[18F] fluoroethyl 4-methylbenzenesulfonate (34*) unit, for incorporation into the quinazoline ring, the radiotracer preparation and its corresponding biodistribution and imaging studies were not performed. Concomitantly to the previous work, the synthesis of a set of 12 aminotriazolyl-quinazoline compounds with potential antitumor activity was performed, via the CuAAC cycloaddition reaction. Initially, all quinazolinic derivatives obtained in the work for application in the diagnosis were tested in a range of tumor cell lines under normoxia and hypoxia conditions (MDA-MB-231, SKBR3, BT474, PC3, MKN45, U251, U87, MIA PaCa-2, Skmel37, and A549, at 10 ?M), using cisplatin as a reference. In this study, only the derivatives bearing the nitrobenzyltriazole group 61 and 63 showed about 50% inhibition of MKN45 cells in normoxia and 40% in SKBR3 cells under hypoxia, respectively. In the sequence, the 12 aminotriazolyl-quinazoline derivatives were submitted to in vitro cytotoxicity evaluation using breast tumor cell lines (MDA-MB-231, SKBR3, BT474, at 30 ?M), in the presence of the reference drugs Erlotinib and Lapatinib. Only the derivative containing the phthalimide function 9, unsubstituted at C-6 and C-7 positions of the quinazoline ring, displayed about 60% inhibition on SKBR3 cells under hypoxia. Concomitantly, the inhibitory iv activity of these aminotriazolyl-quinazoline derivatives were also subjected to a screening evaluation against the HER2, EGFR and PERK kinases, 10 ?M. However, there was no significant inhibition of these enzymes at the tested concentration. New assays are ongoing to determine the inhibitory activity under other tumor cell lines. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 13/27186-7 - Biorreductive Quinazolines: synthesis and biological evaluation for PET diagnostic and treatment of hypoxic tumors
• Grantee: Paulo Sérgio Gonçalves Nunes
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate