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Frank S Guziec

Publications and source records attributed to Frank S Guziec.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Structure-activity studies with cytotoxic anthrapyrazoles.

Anthrapyrazoles have been investigated as cancer chemotherapeutic agents. The mechanism of action of these compounds is thought to involve inhibition of DNA topoisomerase II. A structure-activity study was carried out to determine the in vitro cytotoxic activity of nine novel anthrapyrazoles against human breast carcinoma, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and leukemia cells, and against Chinese hamster ovary cells. The activity of these anthrapyrazole analogues was compared with that of two clinically tested anthrapyrazoles, losoxantrone and piroxantrone. Inhibition of topoisomerase II as a mechanism of action for the analogues was also investigated. The cytotoxic activity of the analogues was determined in vitro by MTT cell growth inhibition assay and inhibition of catalytic topoisomerase II activity by each compound was measured using a fluorometric DNA decatenation assay. All of the anthrapyrazole analogues inhibited the growth of the four cell lines with IC50 values that ranged from 0.1 to 45.2 microM. Losoxantrone was the most potent of the anthrapyrazole analogues studied. A tertiary amine in the basic side chain at N-2 increased the cytotoxic activity compared with a secondary amine in this side chain for many of the analogues, but not if there was a basic side chain at the C-5 position. A chlorine substituent on the basic side chain at N-2 did not have a consistent effect on activity. Moving the position of a chlorine substituent from C-5 to C-7 or introducing a basic side chain at C-5 did not have a consistent effect on cytotoxic activity. Anthrapyrazole analogues showed a broad range of activity for inhibiting topoisomerase II decatenation activity. Losoxantrone and piroxantrone were the most potent inhibitors of topoisomerase II activity. There was no significant correlation between the cytotoxic activity of the anthrapyrazole analogues and their ability to inhibit decatenation by topoisomerase II.

Animals↗

Lipidic inhibitors of human N-myristoyltransferase.

This study was undertaken in order to identify compounds which inhibit the activity of human myristoyl-CoA:protein N-myristoyltransferase (hNMT). In particular, the structural features of such molecules which contribute to enzyme inhibition were investigated. Two groups of compounds, namely myristic acid and analogs 1-13 and derivatives of myristoyl-CoA 14-19 were evaluated. All compounds were examined using cAMP-dependent protein kinase derived peptide substrate. The IC(50) values were <1 micro M, between 1 and 100 micro M or >100 micro M in eight, four and seven compounds, respectively. Of the six myristoyl-CoA analogs, five had IC(50) values in the 0.06-0.59 micro M range. These molecules were examined using three additional substrates viz pp60src, MARCKS and M2 gene segment of reovirus type 3 which led to results similar to those obtained with the cAMP-dependent protein kinase substrate. On the other hand, evaluation of myristic acid and four related compounds revealed some differences in hNMT-inhibiting properties among the substrates. From the results obtained, the possible manner whereby potent inhibitors interact with the enzyme was formulated thus enabling the design of further analogs as candidate inhibitors of hNMT.

Acyltransferases↗

A structure-based 3D-QSAR study of anthrapyrazole analogues of the anticancer agents losoxantrone and piroxantrone.

A series of 13 anthrapyrazole compounds that are analogues of piroxantrone and losoxantrone were synthesized, and their cell growth inhibitory effects, DNA binding, topoisomerase IIalpha mediated (EC 5.99.1.3) cleavage of DNA, and inhibition of DNA topoisomerase IIalpha decatenation catalytic activities were determined. Cell growth inhibitory activity was well-correlated with DNA binding, suggesting that these compounds may act by targeting DNA. However, cell growth inhibition was not well-correlated with the inhibition of topoisomerase IIalpha catalytic activity, suggesting that these anthrapyrazoles did not act solely by inhibiting the catalytic activity of topoisomerase II. Most of the analogues were able to induce DNA cleavage, and thus, it was concluded that they acted, at least in part, as topoisomerase II poisons. Structure-based three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity analyses (3D-QSAR) were carried out on the aligned structures of the anthrapyrazoles docked into DNA using comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity index (CoMSIA) analyses in order to determine the structural features responsible for their activity. Both CoMFA and CoMSIA yielded statistically significant models upon partial least-squares analyses. The 3D-QSAR analyses showed that hydrogen-bond donor interactions and electrostatic interactions with the protonated amino side chains of the anthrapyrazoles led to high cell growth inhibitory activity.

Anthracyclines↗