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J A Katzenellenbogen

Publications and source records attributed to J A Katzenellenbogen.

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Estrogen regulation of human osteoblast function is determined by the stage of differentiation and the estrogen receptor isoform.

Although osteoblasts have been shown to respond to estrogens and express both isoforms of the estrogen receptor (ER alpha and ER beta), the role each isoform plays in osteoblast cell function and differentiation is unknown. The two ER isoforms are known to differentially regulate estrogen-inducible promoter-reporter gene constructs, but their individual effects on endogenous gene expression in osteoblasts have not been reported. We compared the effects of 17 beta-estradiol (E) and tamoxifen (TAM) on gene expression and matrix formation during the differentiation of human osteoblast cell lines stably expressing either ER alpha (hFOB/ER alpha 9) or ER beta (hFOB/ER beta 6). Expression of the appropriate ER isoform in these cells was confirmed by northern and western blotting and the responses to E in the hFOB/ER beta 6 line were abolished by an ER beta-specific inhibitor. The data demonstrate that (1) in both the hFOB/ER cell lines, certain responses to E or TAM (including alkaline phosphatase, IL-6 and IL-11 production) are more pronounced at the late mineralization stage of differentiation compared to earlier stages, (2) E exerted a greater regulation of bone nodule formation and matrix protein/cytokine production in the ER alpha cells than in ER beta cells, and (3) the regulated expression of select genes differed between the ER alpha and ER beta cells. TAM had no effect on nodule formation in either cell line and was a less potent regulator of gene/protein expression than E. Thus, both the ER isoform and the stage of differentiation appear to influence the response of osteoblast cells to E and TAM.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗

[125I]iododesethyl tamoxifen aziridine: synthesis and covalent labeling of the estrogen receptor with an iodine-labeled affinity label.

Iododesethyl tamoxifen aziridine (I-Tam-Az), an analog of the estrogen receptor-affinity label tamoxifen aziridine (Tam-Az) in which the ethyl group has been replaced by an iodine, has been prepared by two routes: (a) metallation of a bromotriarylethylene system, followed by reaction with iodine, and aziridinylation, and (b) direct iodination of a trimethylstannyl triarylethylene system that is the immediate precursor of I-Tam-Az. The latter method can be used to prepare [125I]I-Tam-Az rapidly and in good yield, both at carrier-added and no-carrier-added levels; specific activities greater than 200 Ci/mmol have been obtained. In competitive radiometric binding assays with the estrogen receptor, I-Tam-Az has an apparent affinity of ca. 20%, equivalent to that of Tam-Az. It also undergoes rapid and selective time-dependent, irreversible binding to the estrogen receptor. [125I]I-Tam-Az reacts covalently with estrogen receptor in uterine cytosol preparations; its attachment is rapid and efficient, but somewhat less selective than that of Tam-Az. Estrogen receptor in intact MCF-7 human breast cancer cells can also be labeled with [125I]I-Tam-Az, and autoradiographic analysis of salt extracts of labeled nuclear estrogen receptor on SDS-polyacrylamide slab gels shows highly selective labeling of a 65K protein. [125I]I-Tam-Az is an efficient, selective affinity label for the estrogen receptor, available at high specific activity, and should be useful in studies on estrogen receptor structure, dynamics, and chromatin interactions.

Affinity Labels↗

Estrogen receptor binding tolerance of 16 alpha-substituted estradiol derivatives.

In order to examine the tolerance of the estrogen receptor for 16 alpha-substituents in estradiol, we have synthesized various 16 alpha-substituted estrogens and determined their binding affinity for receptor by a competitive radiometric binding assay. The substituents ranged from small, single-atom substituents (halogens), two-atom substituents (halomethyl groups), to larger alkyl groups and ultimately alkyl groups bearing various functionality, including fluorescent (nitrobenzoxadiazole, NBD) and photoreactive (nitroazidophenyl, NAP) groups. The estrogen receptor seems to have a moderate tolerance for bulky substituents: All of the halogen and halomethyl substituents bind with an affinity at least 50% that of estradiol; in the three atom alkyl series, the affinity declined markedly from propargyl (44%) and allyl (38%) to propyl (5%), suggestive of detailed steric constraints or a preference for unsaturation. The larger, more highly functionalized derivatives ranged in affinity from 0.1-7%, with the highest affinity binders being benzyl (5%) and 4-phenoxy-2(E)-butenyl (7%); most of the lowest affinity ones were the bulky fluorescent and photoreactive derivatives. Thus, the estrogen receptor has good tolerance for estradiol derivatives substituted at the 16 alpha-position with nonpolar groups of moderate bulk; however, with groups of larger bulk, affinity is much lower and becomes highly dependent upon the polarity and detailed structure of the substituents.

Estradiol↗

Synthesis and tissue distribution of fluorine-18 labeled trifluorohexadecanoic acids. Considerations in the development of metabolically blocked myocardial imaging agents.

A versatile method for the synthesis of trifluoro fatty acids, potential metabolically blocked myocardial imaging agents, has been developed. Two trifluorohexadecanoic (palmitic) acids have been prepared [6,6,16-trifluorohexadecanoic acid (I) and 7,7,16-trifluorohexadecanoic acid (II)], each of which bears two of the fluorine atoms as a gem-difluoromethylene unit on the fatty acid chain (at C-6 or C-7) and the third at the omega (C-16) position. The metabolic stability of carbon-fluorine bonds suggests the gem-difluoro group may block the beta-oxidation pathway, while the terminal fluorine could be the site for labeling with fluorine-18. The convergent synthetic approach utilizes a 2-lithio-1,3-dithiane derived from 10-undecenal or 9-decenal, which is alkylated with the OBO (oxabicyclooctyl) ester of 5-bromopentanoic acid or 6-bromohexanoic acid, respectively. Hydroboration-oxidation and alcohol protection are followed by halofluorination to convert the 1,3-dithiane system to a gem-difluoro group. The third fluorine is introduced by fluoride ion displacement of a trifluoromethanesulfonate. This synthesis is adapted to the labeling of these trifluoro fatty acids with the short-lived radionuclide fluorine-18 (t1/2 = 110 min), with the third fluorine introduced as fluoride ion in the penultimate step. The radiochemical syntheses proceed in 3-34% radiochemical yield (decay corrected), with an overall synthesis and purification time of 90 min. Tissue distribution studies in rats were performed with I and II, as well as with 16-[18F]fluoropalmitic acid (III), [11C]palmitic acid, and [11C]octanoic acid. The heart uptake of the fluoropalmitic acids decreases with substitution, the 2-min activity level for 16-fluoropalmitic acid being 65% and that for both 6,6,16- and 7,7,17-trifluoropalmitic acids being 30% that of palmitic acid. Fluorine substitution results in some alteration in the retention of activity by the heart: 16-fluoropalmitate actually clears more rapidly than palmitate, but the two trifluoropalmitates (particularly 6,6,16-trifluoropalmitate, I) show somewhat slower clearance of activity, although the improvement of I over palmitate is only modest. There is considerable accumulation of activity in the bone after administration of the fluorine-18 labeled fatty acids, suggestive of metabolic defluorination. These results indicate that fluorine substitution alters the physicochemical properties of the fatty acid so that uptake by the myocardium is diminished. Furthermore, while the gem-difluoro substituents at C-6 and C-7 may block beta-oxidation, the chain-terminal radiofluorine substituent is subject to omega-oxidation that releases it as fluoride ion.

Animals↗

Progestin-rhenium complexes: metal-labeled steroids with high receptor binding affinity, potential receptor-directed agents for diagnostic imaging or therapy.

In order to investigate the possibility of developing diagnostic imaging agents for steroid-positive tumors that are labeled with the readily available radionuclide technetium-99m, we prepared four conjugate systems in which a progestin is linked to a metal chelate system. Three of these are bis-amino bis-thiol (BAT or N2S2) systems and are linked through carbon-21 of progesterone or the 17 alpha- or 11 beta-position of a nortestosterone type progestin. The fourth, an amino-amido-thiol-alcohol chelate (N2OS) system, is linked at the 16 alpha,17 alpha-positions of a dihydroprogesterone. As a model for technetium-labeled complexes, all four chelate systems were converted to their oxo-rhenium complexes. Of the four possible diastereomers in the 16 alpha,17 alpha-system, only one was isolated, while of the four possible diastereomers in the other systems, a syn pair and an anti pair (linker methylene vs rhenium-oxo, relative to the N2S2 plane) were separated in the 17 alpha-substituted series, a syn pair was isolated in the 21-substituted series, and a syn pair and the two individual anti diastereomers were separated in the 11 beta-substituted series. In competitive radiometric receptor binding assays, the 21-, 17 alpha-, and 16 alpha,17 alpha-linked systems had low affinity for the progesterone receptor (less than 0.3% that of promegestone (R5020) or 2% that of progesterone). By contrast, the two anti diastereomers of the 11 beta-linked system had affinities that were 10% and 44% that of R5020 (or 64% and 283% that of progesterone) and the syn pair had an affinity 25% that of R5020 (or 161% that of progesterone). The latter finding indicates that it is possible to prepare metal-labeled steroids that retain high affinity for steroid receptors. These and related systems, when complexed with radioactive metals, may be useful in vivo as receptor-directed agents for diagnostic imaging or therapy of steroid receptor-positive tumors.

20-alpha-Dihydroprogesterone↗

Fluorine-substituted ligands for the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma): potential imaging agents for metastatic tumors.

The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma), a primary regulator of lipid metabolism, is present in many tumor cell lines and animal tumor systems and, in some cases, can mediate effective antitumor therapy with potent synthetic ligands. In an approach to image tumors with positron-emission tomography (PET) based on their content of PPARgamma, we have synthesized two fluorine-substituted analogues of a high affinity ligand from the phenylpropanoic acid class. The analogue having the highest affinity for PPARgamma was labeled with the positron-emitting radionuclide fluorine-18. In tissue distribution studies in normal rats and in SCID mice bearing human breast tumor xenografts, this compound did not show evidence of receptor-mediated uptake. The prospects for using PPARgamma as a target for imaging tumors may be limited by the low receptor concentrations in tumors and by the pharmacokinetic behavior of this class of ligands, which appears to be more favorable for therapy than for imaging.

Animals↗

Hexestrol diazirine photoaffinity labeling reagent for the estrogen receptor.

3-Azibutyl (2R*,3S*)-2,3-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)pentyl sulfide (1), a photoaffinity labeling reagent for the estrogen receptor (ER), has been prepared in unlabeled and in high specific activity tritium-labeled form (32 Ci/mmol) and has been shown to undergo selective and efficient photocovalent attachment to rat uterine ER. Diazirine 1 demonstrates high binding affinity for ER, as determined by both a competitive binding assay and a direct binding assay (relative binding: estradiol = 100; (1) = 17. Kd: estradiol = 0.19 nM; (1) = 0.98 nM, respectively). It is efficient in site-specific photoinactivation of ER, reaching the level of 31% after 5 min of irradiation at > 315 nm. The tritium-labeled diazirine [3H]-1 undergoes specific photocovalent attachment to ER with an attachment efficiency of 29% and a selectivity of 90%. Both of these values are quite high for a photoaffinity reagent. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic analysis of the photolabeled proteins shows specific labeling of a major species at M(r) 65,000, the same species that is labeled by [3H]tamoxifen aziridine, a well-characterized affinity label for ER. Hexestrol diazirine 1 is the first carbene-generating photoaffinity label that covalently labels ER with high efficiency and selectivity, and it should be useful in further studies on the hormone-binding domain of ER.

Affinity Labels↗

Progestin radiopharmaceuticals labeled with technetium and rhenium: synthesis, binding affinity, and in vivo distribution of a new progestin N2S2-metal conjugate.

We have prepared and evaluated three metal conjugates of a progestin-monoamine-monoamide (MAMA') bisthiol chelate system. These conjugates of rhenium and technetium-99 and -99m, are structural analogs of the bisamino-bisthiol (BAT) conjugates we have described recently, but the MAMA' chelate, being more polar than the BAT system, gives a conjugate that is much less lipophilic, having an octanol-water partition coefficient that is nearly 80-fold lower. In competitive binding assays, the Re- and 99Tc-MAMA'-progestin conjugates bind to the progesterone receptor with affinities greater than that of progesterone itself, and in a direct binding assay, the equilibrium dissociation constant (Kd) of the 99mTc-MAMA' conjugate was 0.97 nM. As is typical for 11 beta-substituted progestins, these conjugates also have substantial binding affinity for glucocorticoid receptors. In tissue distribution studies in immature female rats, the progestin-99mTc-MAMA' conjugates show selective uptake for principal target tissue (such as uterus) over that of blood and nontarget tissue (such as muscle); these uptake ratios reach maximum levels of 5 and 4, respectively. Uptake by fat, liver, and kidney is quite high; however, only the uptake in uterus is displaceable upon coinjection of the selective progestin ORG2058. Metabolism studies show that the radioactivity in the uterus is essentially unmetabolized out to 4 h, while liver activity is completely due to metabolites. Other tissues show an intermediate fraction of unmetabolized conjugates that decreases with time. The in vivo behavior of the progestin-99mTc-MAMA' conjugate is similar to that of the labeled BAT conjugate: its uptake selectivity is somewhat greater than that of the BAT conjugate, but its target tissue uptake is lower. Factors that may be responsible for limiting the target tissue uptake properties of these conjugates are their moderate affinity for progesterone receptor, their substantial binding to glucorticoid receptors, and their large overall molecular size.

Animals↗

Evaluation of a highly efficient aryl azide photoaffinity labeling reagent for the progesterone receptor.

16 alpha,17 alpha-[(R)-1'-(4-Azidophenyl)ethylidenedioxy]pregn-4-ene- 3,20-dione (7) was prepared in high specific activity tritium-labeled form (20 Ci/mmol) and shown to bind to the progesterone receptor with an affinity (Kd = 0.80 nM) that is 47% of that of [3H]-R 5020 (Kd = 0.38 nM). [3H]Progestin aryl azide 7 exhibits high photoattachment efficiency (60% at 1 h) compared to the commonly used progesterone receptor photoaffinity labeling reagent [3H]-R 5020 (2.2% at 1 h) and is the most efficient progesterone receptor photoaffinity labeling reagent prepared to date. The photoattachment observed with 7 proceeds in a time-dependent fashion, with most of the attachment occurring within the first 10 min of photolysis. Characterization of the photolabeled proteins by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis shows specific labeling of two adducts of molecular weight 108,500 +/- 800 and 87,000 +/- 1,500 (n = 3), the same species as labeled by [3H]-R 5020. The ratio of progesterone receptor subunits A:B was determined to be 3.3:1 with both [3H]progestin azide 7 and [3H]-R 5020. Information on the specific amino acid(s) that attach to the ligand during photolysis awaits further analysis of the covalently bound ligand-protein adduct.

Affinity Labels↗

Protein and peptide labeling with (cyclopentadienyl)tricarbonyl rhenium and technetium.

A method for labeling proteins and peptides with (methoxycarbonyl cyclopentadienyl)tricarbonyl rhenium and technetium is described. The precursors used for this labeling are conveniently produced from perrhenate and pertechnetate, respectively, using a double ligand transfer reaction. For labeling the lysine residues of the model protein bovine serum albumin, the technetium methyl ester was saponified and then transformed into its N-hydroxysuccinimidyl ester. For the labeling of the model peptides leucine enkephalin, substance P, oxytocin, and the tumor imaging/therapy candidate octreotide, the rhenium methyl ester was saponified and activated using either 1-hydoxybenzotriazole or 1-hydroxy-7-azabenzotriazole. The activation and peptide-coupling reactions were followed using reversed-phase (C18) HPLC and yields averaged approximately 70%.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid↗

Integrated "3+1" oxorhenium(V) complexes as estrogen mimics.

The diagnosis and staging of breast cancer could be improved by the development of imaging radiopharmaceuticals that provide a noninvasive determination of the estrogen receptor (ER) status of tumor cells. Toward this goal, we have synthesized a number of integrated "3+1" oxorhenium(V) complexes designed to mimic estradiol and a class of nonsteroidal estrogens, the tetrahydrochrysenes (THC). The monodentate component of the estradiol mimic is a p-hydroxyphenethyl thiol ligand with ethyl substituents at the benzylic and homobenzylic positions. Model complexes of this ligand were easily made, but steric hindrance of the secondary thiol prevented the formation of the complex with the disubstituted ligand. The three "3+1" oxorhenium(V) complexes prepared to mimic the THC class mimics represent the first pyridinedithiol rhenium complexes of their kind to be made. These complexes are quite stable to air and moisture. The target tridentate ligand was prepared from chelidamic acid, and the VT NMR of the rhenium complex displays interesting fluxional behavior. The binding affinities of these complexes for the estrogen receptor are low, and their lipophilicities are rather high. Nevertheless, our findings provide a further refinement of our understanding of ligand structure-binding affinity correlations for the estrogen receptor.

Animals↗

Solid-phase synthesis of tetrasubstituted pyrazoles, novel ligands for the estrogen receptor.

Most ligands for the estrogen receptor (ER) are not well suited for synthesis by combinatorial means, because their construction involves a series of carbon-carbon bond forming reactions that are not uniformly high yielding. In previous work directed to overcoming this limitation, we surveyed various phenol-substituted five-membered heterocycles, hoping to find a system that would afford both high ER binding affinity and whose synthesis could be adapted to solid-phase methods (Fink et al. Chem. Biol. 1999, 6, 206-219.) In this report, we have developed a reliable and efficient solid-phase method to prepare the best of these heterocycles, the tetrasubstituted pyrazoles, and we have used this methodology to produce small, discrete libraries of these novel ER ligands. We used a combination of FT-IR and nanoprobe (1)H NMR-MAS to characterize intermediates leading up to the final pyrazole products directly on the bead. We also developed a scavenging resin, which enabled us to obtain products free from inorganic contaminants. We prepared a 12-member test library, and then a 96-member library, and in both cases we determined product purity and ER binding affinity of all of the library members. Several interesting binding affinity patterns have emerged from these studies, and they have provided us with new directions for further exploration, which has led to pyrazoles having high affinity and potency as agonists and antagonists toward the ER alpha subtype.

Drug Design↗

The development of estrogen and progestin radiopharmaceuticals for imaging breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: The presence of receptors for estrogens and progestins in many breast tumors provides a means for imaging these tumors using positron emission tomography (PET) with appropriate fluorine-18 labeled estrogen and progestin radiopharmaceuticals. In this context, the estrogen analog 16 alpha-[18F]fluoroestradiol (FES) has already proven to be an effective imaging agent for estrogen receptor-positive tumors. METHODS: Clinical studies comparing FES images with those based on the metabolic probe 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (FDG) in patients before and after tamoxifen hormone therapy are underway. Several fluorine-18 labeled progestins have been prepared, and efforts are underway to develop methods for labeling steroid receptor imaging agents with the widely available radionuclide technetium-99m, using both pendant and integrated approaches. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Breast tumor imaging with FES and FDG shows an interesting relationship between tumor metabolic response (assessed with FDG) and tumor estrogen receptor levels (assessed with FES). The fluorine-18 labeled progestins show excellent target tissue selective distribution in experimental animals and are ready for imaging studies in humans. The development of steroids labeled with technetium-99m poses special challenges because of the metallic nature of this radioisotope.

Animals↗