RESUMEN
Despite advances in breast cancer (BC) treatment, its mortality remains high due to intrinsic or acquired resistance to therapy. Several ongoing efforts are being made to develop novel drugs to treat this pathology with the aim to overcome resistance, prolong patient survival and improve their quality of life. We have previously shown that the non-hypercalcemic vitamin D analogues EM1 and UVB1 display antitumor effects in preclinical studies employing conventional cell lines and animal models developed from these cells. In this work, we explored the antitumor effects of EM1 and UVB1 employing BC cells derived from patient-derived xenografts (PDXs), which are a powerful preclinical tool for testing new drugs. We demonstrated that the analogues reduced the viability of HER2-positive and Triple Negative BC-PDXs. Moreover, using an in vitro model of acquired resistance to Trastuzumab-emtansine, UVB1 displayed anti-proliferative actions under 2D and 3D culture conditions. It inhibited both formation and growth of established organoids. In addition, a direct correlation between UVB1 antitumor effects and VDR expression in PDXs was found. In conclusion, all the results reinforce the potential use of these vitamin D analogues as antitumor agents to treat HER2-positive and Triple Negative BC.
Asunto(s)
Neoplasias de la Mama/tratamiento farmacológico , Proliferación Celular/efectos de los fármacos , Neoplasias de la Mama Triple Negativas/tratamiento farmacológico , Vitamina D/farmacología , Animales , Neoplasias de la Mama/genética , Neoplasias de la Mama/patología , Línea Celular Tumoral , Modelos Animales de Enfermedad , Femenino , Regulación Neoplásica de la Expresión Génica/efectos de los fármacos , Humanos , Ratones , Calidad de Vida , Neoplasias de la Mama Triple Negativas/genética , Neoplasias de la Mama Triple Negativas/patología , Vitamina D/análogos & derivados , Ensayos Antitumor por Modelo de XenoinjertoRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: 1α,25-dihydroxy vitamin D3 (calcitriol) shows potent growth-inhibitory properties on different cancer cell lines, but its hypercalcemic effects have severely hampered its therapeutic application. Therefore, it is important to develop synthetic calcitriol analogues that retain or even increase its antitumoral effects and lack hypercalcemic activity. Based on previous evidence of the potent antitumor effects of the synthetic alkynylphosphonate EM1 analogue, we have now synthesized a derivative called SG. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present work is to evaluate the calcemic activity and the antitumor effect of SG, comparing these effects with those exerted by calcitriol and with those previously published for EM1. In addition, we propose to analyze by in silico studies, the chemical structure-biological function relationship of these molecules. METHODS: We performed the synthesis of vinylphosphonate SG analogue; in vitro assays on different cancer cell lines; in vivo assays on mice; and in silico assays applying computational molecular modeling. RESULTS: The SG compound lacks hypercalcemic activity, similar to the parent compound EM1. However, the antitumor activity was blunted, as no antiproliferative or anti-migratory effects were observed. By in silico assays, we demonstrated that SG analogue has a lower affinity for the VDRligand- binding domain than the EM1 compound due to lack of interaction with the important residues His305 and His397. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that the chemical modification in the lateral side chain of the SG analogue affects the antitumoral activity observed previously for EM1 but does not affect the calcemic activity. These results contribute to the rational design and synthesis of novel calcitriol analogues.
Asunto(s)
Antineoplásicos/química , Antineoplásicos/farmacología , Calcitriol/química , Calcitriol/farmacología , Organofosfonatos/química , Línea Celular Tumoral , Movimiento Celular/efectos de los fármacos , Proliferación Celular/efectos de los fármacos , Diseño de Fármacos , Humanos , Relación Estructura-ActividadRESUMEN
The α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor is a pentameric ligand-gated ion channel widely distributed in the central nervous system, mainly in the hippocampus and cortex. The enhancement of its activity by positive allosteric modulators (PAMs) is a promising therapeutic strategy for cognitive deficits and neurodegenerative disorders. With the aim of developing novel scaffolds with PAM activity, we designed and synthesized a series of phosphonate-functionalized 1,4-disubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles using supported copper nanoparticles as the cycloaddition reaction catalyst and evaluated their activity on α7 receptors by single-channel and whole-cell recordings. We identified several triazole derivatives that displayed PAM activity, with the compound functionalized with the methyl phosphonate group being the most efficacious one. At the macroscopic level, α7 potentiation was evidenced as an increase of the maximal currents elicited by acetylcholine with minimal effects on desensitization, recapitulating the actions of type I PAMs. At the single-channel level, the active compounds did not affect channel amplitude but significantly increased the duration of channel openings and activation episodes. By using chimeric and mutant α7 receptors, we demonstrated that the new α7 PAMs share transmembrane structural determinants of potentiation with other chemically nonrelated PAMs. To gain further insight into the chemical basis of potentiation, we applied structure-activity relationship strategies involving modification of the chain length, inversion of substituent positions in the triazole ring, and changes in the aromatic nucleus. Our findings revealed that the phosphonate-functionalized 1,4-disubstituted 1,2,3-triazole is a novel pharmacophore for the development of therapeutic agents for neurological and neurodegenerative disorders associated with cholinergic dysfunction.
Asunto(s)
Organofosfonatos , Receptores Nicotínicos , Regulación Alostérica , Técnicas de Placa-Clamp , Receptores Nicotínicos/metabolismo , Triazoles/farmacología , Receptor Nicotínico de Acetilcolina alfa 7/metabolismoRESUMEN
The vitamin D receptor (VDR) constitutes a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of cancer. Unfortunately, its natural agonist calcitriol does not have clinical utility due to its potential to induce hypercalcemic effects at the concentrations required to display antitumoral activity. For this reason, the search for new calcitriol analogues with adequate therapeutic profiles has been actively pursued by the scientific community. We have previously reported the obtaining and the biological activity evaluation of new calcitriol analogues by modification of its sidechain, which exhibited relevant antiproliferative and selectivity profiles against tumoral and normal cells. In this work we conducted molecular modeling studies (i.e. molecular docking, molecular dynamics, constant pH molecular dynamics (CpHMD) and free energy of binding analysis) to elucidate at an atomistic level the molecular basis related to the potential of the new calcitriol analogues to achieve selectivity between tumoral and normal cells. Two histidine residues (His305 and His397) were found to exhibit a particular tautomeric configuration that produces the observed bioactivity. Also, different acid-based properties were observed for His305 and His307 with His305 showing an increased acidity (pKa 5.2) compared to His397 (pKa 6.8) and to the typical histidine residue. This behavior favored the pharmacodynamic interaction of the calcitriol analogues exhibiting selectivity for tumoral cells when VDR was modeled at the more acidic tumoral environment (pH â 6) compared to the case when VDR was modeled at pH 7.4 (normal cell environment). On the other hand, non-selective compounds, including calcitriol, exhibited a similar interaction pattern with VDR when the receptor was modeled at both pH conditions. The results presented constitute the first evidence on the properties of the VDR receptor in different physicochemical environments and thus represent a significant contribution to the in silico screening and design of new calcitriol analogues.
Asunto(s)
Modelos Moleculares , Receptores de Calcitriol/metabolismo , Calcitriol/metabolismo , Histidina/metabolismo , Humanos , Concentración de Iones de Hidrógeno , Ligandos , Receptores de Calcitriol/química , Microambiente TumoralRESUMEN
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the worst and most common brain tumor, characterized by high proliferation and invasion rates. The current standard treatment is mainly based on chemoradiotherapy and this approach has slightly improved patient survival. Thus, novel strategies aimed at prolonging the survival and ensuring a better quality of life are necessary. In the present work, we investigated the antitumoral effect of the novel analogue of calcitriol EM1 on GBM cells employing in vitro, in silico, and in vivo assays. In vitro, we demonstrated that EM1 treatment selectively decreases the viability of murine and human tumor cells without affecting that of normal human astrocytes. The analysis of the mechanisms showed that EM1 produces cell cycle arrest in the T98G cell line, which is accompanied by an increase in p21, p27, p57 protein levels and a decrease in cyclin D1, p-Akt-S473, p-ERK1/2 and c-Jun expression. Moreover, EM1 treatment also exerts in GBM cells anti-migratory effects and decreases their invasive capacity by a reduction in MMP-9 proteolytic activity. In silico, we demonstrated that EM1 is able to bind to the vitamin D receptor with greater affinity than calcitriol. Finally, we showed that EM1 treatment of nude mice administered at 50ug/kg body weight during 21days neither induces hypercalcemia nor toxicity effects. In conclusion, all the results indicate the potential of EM1 analogue as a promising therapeutic alternative for GBM treatment.
Asunto(s)
Apoptosis/efectos de los fármacos , Calcitriol/farmacología , Ciclo Celular/efectos de los fármacos , Movimiento Celular/efectos de los fármacos , Proliferación Celular/efectos de los fármacos , Glioblastoma/patología , Animales , Neoplasias Encefálicas/tratamiento farmacológico , Neoplasias Encefálicas/patología , Adhesión Celular/efectos de los fármacos , Glioblastoma/tratamiento farmacológico , Humanos , Masculino , Ratones , Ratones Desnudos , Células Tumorales Cultivadas , Vitaminas/farmacologíaRESUMEN
The active form of vitamin D3, calcitriol, plays a major role in maintaining calcium/phosphate homeostasis. In addition, it is a potent antiproliferative and prodifferentiating agent. However, when effective antitumor doses of calcitriol are employed, hypercalcemic effects are observed, thus precluding its therapeutic application. To overcome this problem, structural analogues have been designed with the aim at retaining or even increasing the antitumor effects while decreasing its calcemic activity. This report shows the biological evaluation of an alkynylphosphonate vitamin D less-calcemic analogue in a murine model of breast cancer. We demonstrate that this compound has potent anti-metastatic effects through its action over cellular migration and invasion likely mediated through the up-regulation of E-cadherin expression. Based on the current in vitro and in vivo results, EM1 is a promising candidate as a therapeutic agent in breast cancer.
Asunto(s)
Neoplasias de la Mama/patología , Calcitriol/farmacología , Metástasis de la Neoplasia/prevención & control , Organofosfonatos/farmacología , Animales , Calcitriol/análogos & derivados , Modelos Animales de Enfermedad , Femenino , Ratones , Ratones Endogámicos BALB CRESUMEN
There is evidence that p300, a transcriptional co-factor and a lysine acetyl-transferase, could play a role both as an oncoprotein and as a tumor suppressor, although little is known regarding its role in breast cancer (BC). First we investigated the role p300 has on BC by performing pharmacological inhibition of p300 acetyl-transferase function and analyzing the effects on cell count, migration and invasion in LM3 murine breast cancer cell line and on tumor progression in a syngeneic murine model. We subsequently studied p300 protein expression in human BC biopsies and evaluated its correlation with clinical and histopathological parameters of the patients. We observed that inhibition of p300 induced apoptosis and reduced migration and invasion in cultured LM3 cells. Furthermore, a significant reduction in tumor burden, number of lung metastases and number of tumors invading the abdominal cavity was observed in a syngeneic tumor model of LM3 following treatment with the p300 inhibitor. This reduction in tumor burden was accompanied by a decrease in the mitotic index and Ki-67 levels and an increase in Bax expression. Moreover, the analysis of p300 expression in human BC samples showed that p300 immunoreactivity is significantly higher in the cancerous tissues than in the non-malignant mammary tissues and in the histologically normal adjacent tissues. Interestingly, p300 was observed in the cytoplasm, and the rate of cytoplasmic p300 was higher in BC than in non-tumor tissues. Importantly, we found that cytoplasmic localization of p300 is associated with a longer overall survival time of the patients. In conclusion, we demonstrated that inhibition of the acetylase function of p300 reduces both cell count and invasion in LM3 cells, and decreases tumor progression in the animal model. In addition, we show that the presence of p300 in the cytoplasm correlates with increased survival of patients suggesting that its nuclear localization is necessary for the pro-tumoral effects.
Asunto(s)
Neoplasias de la Mama/metabolismo , Neoplasias de la Mama/patología , Proteína p300 Asociada a E1A/metabolismo , Animales , Apoptosis/fisiología , Western Blotting , Neoplasias de la Mama/mortalidad , Línea Celular Tumoral , Movimiento Celular , Proliferación Celular/fisiología , Citoplasma/química , Citoplasma/metabolismo , Modelos Animales de Enfermedad , Femenino , Técnica del Anticuerpo Fluorescente , Humanos , Estimación de Kaplan-Meier , Ratones , Ratones Endogámicos BALB C , Microscopía ConfocalRESUMEN
Here, we describe the design and synthesis of diethyl [(5Z,7E)-(1S,3R)-1,3-dihydroxy-9,10-secochola-5,7,10(19)-trien-23-in-24-yl] phosphonate (compound 10), which combines the low calcemic properties of phosphonates with the decreased metabolic inactivation due to the presence of a triple bond in C-24 and studied its in vitro effects on several cancer cell lines and its in vivo effects on blood calcium levels. We demonstrate that this compound is a potent antiproliferative vitamin D analogue, showing lack of calcemic effects in vivo.
RESUMEN
[reaction: see text] A mild palladium-catalyzed cascade has been used for the synthesis of the hormone 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (calcitriol, 1a) and its analogues 1b and 1c. This one-pot process involves two consecutive transformations at room temperature: An initial palladium-catalyzed 6-exo-cyclocarbopalladation of vinyl triflates followed by a Negishi cross-coupling reaction with an alkenyl zinc. This novel strategy opens new possibilities for the preparation of a variety of new vitamin D analogues of therapeutic potential, particularly with modifications at the triene and/or ring-A.