Biomedical subjects

Marcus Tullberg

Publications and source records attributed to Marcus Tullberg.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2007

Synthesis of functionalized, unsymmetrical 1,3,4,6-tetrasubstituted 2,5-diketopiperazines.

A general and efficient method for the synthesis of unsymmetrical 1,3,4,6-tetrasubstituted 2,5-diketo- piperazines (DKPs) is described. Cyclization of N-amide alkylated dipeptide methyl esters, followed by alkylation, furnished the corresponding tetrasubstituted DKPs in good overall yields. The influence of steric hindrance in the alkylation reactions appeared to be of lesser importance as long as reactive alkylating agents were used. Furthermore, we have demonstrated the use of tetrasubstituted DKPs as a scaffold for further chemical manipulations to produce novel DKPs with desired properties.

Alkylation↗

PubMed2004

Antitumor efficacy and acute toxicity of the novel dipeptide melphalanyl-p-L-fluorophenylalanine ethyl ester (J1) in vivo.

The novel alkylating dipeptide melphalanyl-p-L-fluorophenylalanine ethyl ester (J1) was evaluated for acute toxicity and antitumor activity in mice, with melphalan as a reference. To determine a safe and tolerable dose for efficacy studies the acute toxicity following intravenous injection in the tail vein was monitored using a 14-day schedule with up to four doses. The highest tested dose, 25 micromoles/kg, was considered close to this level, with minor effects on body weight gain but significant effects on hematological parameters. Melphalan and J1 appeared equitoxic with no statistically significant differences. Subsequently a mouse hollow fiber model was employed with subcutaneous implantation of fibers containing human tumor cells. Three different human tumor cell lines as well as two samples of primary human tumor cells (ovarian carcinoma and chronic lymphatic leukemia) were used as tumor models. At the dose level tested there was a marked and statistically significant decrease in both T-cell leukemia CCRF-CEM and small cell lung cancer NCI-H69 tumor cell growth and viability in response to J1 as compared with both placebo and melphalan treated groups. In primary ovarian carcinoma cells only J1 treatment resulted in significant tumor regression (net cell kill). In summary the results indicate that, despite an expected short half time in the blood circulation, the promising in vitro data from the previous studies of J1 seems translatable into the in vivo situation. At equal doses of alkylating units J1, compared to melphalan, was more active in the mouse hollow-fiber model, but showed similar general toxicity.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Activity of hydrolytic enzymes in tumour cells is a determinant for anti-tumour efficacy of the melphalan containing prodrug J1.

Recently, we presented a series of melphalan containing di- and tripeptides with high cytotoxic activity and J1 (l-melphalanyl-p-l-fluorophenylalanine ethyl ester) was identified as one of the most interesting compounds. It was speculated that the increased activity compared to melphalan itself, demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo, resided in increased transport over the tumour cell membrane and/or hydrolytic cleavage and liberation of melphalan inside the cells. Indeed, overexpression of hydrolytic enzymes like peptidases, esterases and proteases has been described in several types of human malignancies, thus providing a target for selective chemotherapy. In this work, the details of the increased activity was further investigated and potential tumour selectivity is discussed. The intracellular delivery of melphalan is investigated in detail using peptidase resistant dipeptide derivatives, by enzyme inhibitors and probes for enzymatic activity and by studying the time dependency of drug effect as well as intracellular drug concentrations (cellular pharmacokinetics). The results show that the activity of the dipeptide mustards is highly dependent on intracellular hydrolysis, which result in rapid intracellular release of the alkylating unit (i.e. free melphalan) in cells with high enzymatic activity. The maximum intracellular melphalan concentration following J1 exposure was reached already after 15 min, thereafter declining with a half-life of approximately 1 h. This rapid intracellular loading resulted in less reduction of activity for J1 than for melphalan and six other standard drugs when human tumour cell lines were exposed to the drugs for a limited time (simulating short half-life in vivo). Peptidase inhibitors inhibited the activity and intracellular release of melphalan, and dipeptide derivatives designed to resist the action of peptidases was less active than the corresponding normal dipeptide.

Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating↗

PubMed2003

Structure-activity relationship for alkylating dipeptide nitrogen mustard derivatives.

The strategy of using small peptides for effective targeting of tumor cells in chemotherapy has proven beneficial. Recently we showed that J1 (L-melphalanyl-p-L-fluorophenylalanine ethyl ester), an alkylating nitrogen mustard-containing dipeptide, exhibited strong cytotoxic activity in fresh human tumor samples in addition to rapid and pronounced inhibition of macromolecular syntheses and cellular respiration in the human tumor lymphoma cell line U-937 GTB. In this study, an additional series of 17 nitrogen mustard-containing dipeptides has been synthesized and analyzed for cytotoxic activity in a panel of 10 human tumor cell lines. The results were compared to the single amino acid mustard derivative melphalan and its ethyl and isopropyl esters. Also P2 (L-prolyl-m-L-sarcolysyl-p-L-fluorophenylalanine ethyl ester), a tripeptide that previously has shown impressive effects in human tumor cells, was used as reference. The tested compounds displayed various activities in the different cell lines but also showed a high correlation, indicating a similar mechanism of action. Factors like amino acid composition, amino acid sequence, modifications of the C- and N-termini, and to a minor extent the lipophilicity of the dipeptide derivatives appear to influence the in vitro activity. The results indicate that the activity of these compounds not only relies on their chemical reactivity, but also on active biological interactions such as transport across membranes and/or enzymatic liberation of reactive molecular entities.

Alkylation↗

PubMed2003

Antitumor activity of the novel melphalan containing tripeptide J3 (L-prolyl-L-melphalanyl-p-L-fluorophenylalanine ethyl ester): comparison with its m-L-sarcolysin analogue P2.

Peptichemio (PTC), a mixture of six oligopeptides all containing m-L-sarcolysin, has previously shown impressive results in clinical trials. The tripeptide P2 (L-prolyl-m-L-sarcolysyl-p-L-fluorophenylalanine ethyl ester) has been suggested as the main contributor to PTC activity. In contrast to its analogue melphalan, m-L-sarcolysin never reached clinical use. To allow a direct comparison, the corresponding melphalan containing tripeptide J3 (L-prolyl-L-melphalanyl-p-L-fluorophenylalanine ethyl ester) was synthesized and its activity was compared with that of P2; the activities of melphalan and m-L-sarcolysin were studied in parallel. Cytotoxic activity in human tumor cell lines and some fresh human tumor specimens were analyzed as well as effects on cellular metabolism, macromolecular synthesis, and preliminary evaluation of the cell death characteristics. The results show that melphalan and m-L-sarcolysin display similar activity in these systems and that the tripeptides were more active than their parent monomers. Surprisingly however, the melphalan containing tripeptide J3 demonstrated a significantly more rapid and stronger activity than the m-L-sarcolysin analogue P2. Finally, the in vivo toxicity and activity of melphalan and J3 were investigated in mice bearing human leukemia cells in s.c. fibers. The in vitro results seem translatable into the in vivo situation, demonstrating better antileukemic effect of J3 but similar side effects as melphalan.

Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Microwave-assisted solid-phase synthesis of 2,5-diketopiperazines: solvent and resin dependence.

Solid-phase synthesis of diketopiperazines (DKPs) was preformed using various combinations of resins (polystyrene, TentaGel, ArgoGel, and PEGA) and solvents (toluene, tert-butyl alcohol, water, and toluene/2-butanol (1:4, v/v). The DKPs were synthesized from solid-phase bound dipeptides via intramolecular aminolysis. Both thermal and microwave-assisted solid-phase synthesis of DKPs gave high yields of products independently of resin and organic solvent used; however, only the PEGA resin resulted in high yields of DKPs in water independent of heating method. The short reaction times, high yields, and the possibility to run reactions in water when an appropriate resin is used makes the microwave-assisted solid-phase synthesis the method of choice. The method should be suitable for solid-phase synthesis of diketopiperazine-based libraries.

Combinatorial Chemistry Techniques↗