The cystine/glutamate antiporter system xc- drives breast tumor cell glutamate release and cancer-induced bone pain.

Bone is one of the leading sites of metastasis for frequently diagnosed malignancies, including those arising in the breast, prostate and lung. Although these cancers develop unnoticed and are painless in their primary sites, bone metastases result in debilitating pain. Deeper investigation of this pain may reveal etiology and lead to early cancer detection. Cancer-induced bone pain (CIBP) is inadequately managed with current standard-of-care analgesics and dramatically diminishes patient quality of life. While CIBP etiology is multifaceted, elevated levels of glutamate, an excitatory neurotransmitter, in the bone-tumor microenvironment may drive maladaptive nociceptive signaling. Here, we establish a relationship between the reactive nitrogen species peroxynitrite, tumor-derived glutamate, and CIBP. In vitro and in a syngeneic in vivo model of breast CIBP, murine mammary adenocarcinoma cells significantly elevated glutamate via the cystine/glutamate antiporter system xc. The well-known system xc inhibitor sulfasalazine significantly reduced levels of glutamate and attenuated CIBP-associated flinching and guarding behaviors. Peroxynitrite, a highly reactive species produced in tumors, significantly increased system xc functional expression and tumor cell glutamate release. Scavenging peroxynitrite with the iron and mangano-based porphyrins, FeTMPyP and SRI10, significantly diminished tumor cell system xc functional expression, reduced femur glutamate levels and mitigated CIBP. In sum, we demonstrate how breast cancer bone metastases upregulate a cystine/glutamate co-transporter to elevate extracellular glutamate. Pharmacological manipulation of peroxynitrite or system xc attenuates CIBP, supporting a role for tumor-derived glutamate in CIBP and validating the targeting of system xc as a novel therapeutic strategy for the management of metastatic bone pain.

Enkephalin analogues with N-phenyl-N-(piperidin-2-ylmethyl)propionamide derivatives: Synthesis and biological evaluations.

N-Phenyl-N-(piperidin-2-ylmethyl)propionamide based bivalent ligands are unexplored for the design of opioid based ligands. Two series of hybrid molecules bearing N-phenyl-N-(piperidin-2-ylmethyl)propionamide derived small molecules conjugated with an enkephalin analogues with and without a linker (ß-alanine) were designed and synthesized. Both bivalent ligand series exhibited remarkable binding affinities from nanomolar to subnanomolar range at both µ and δ opioid receptors and displayed potent agonist activities as well. The replacement of Tyr with Dmt and introduction of a linker between the small molecule and enkephalin analogue resulted in highly potent ligands. Both series of ligands showed excellent binding affinities at both µ (0.6-0.9nM) and δ (0.2-1.2nM) opioid receptors respectively. Similarly, these bivalent ligands exhibited potent agonist activities in both MVD and GPI assays. Ligand 17 was evaluated for in vivo antinociceptive activity in non-injured rats following spinal administration. Ligand 17 was not significantly effective in alleviating acute pain. The most likely explanations for this low intrinsic efficacy in vivo despite high in vitro binding affinity, moderate in vitro activity are (i) low potency suggesting that higher doses are needed; (ii) differences in experimental design (i.e. non-neuronal, high receptor density for in vitro preparations versus CNS site of action in vitro); (iii) pharmacodynamics (i.e. engaging signalling pathways); (iv) pharmacokinetics (i.e. metabolic stability). In summary, our data suggest that further optimisation of this compound 17 is required to enhance intrinsic antinociceptive efficacy.

Design and synthesis of novel bivalent ligands (MOR and DOR) by conjugation of enkephalin analogues with 4-anilidopiperidine derivatives.

We describe the design and synthesis of novel bivalent ligands based on the conjugation of 4-anilidopiperidine derivatives with enkephalin analogues. The design of non-peptide analogues is explored with 5-amino substituted (tetrahydronaphthalen-2yl) methyl containing 4-anilidopiperidine derivatives, while non-peptide-peptide ligands are explored by conjugating the C-terminus of enkephalin analogues (H-Xxx-DAla-Gly-Phe-OH) to the amino group of 4-anilidopiperidine small molecule derivatives with and without a linker. These novel bivalent ligands are evaluated for biological activities at µ and δ opioid receptors. They exhibit very good affinities at µ and δ opioid receptors, and potent agonist activities in MVD and GPI assays. Among these the lead bivalent ligand 17 showed excellent binding affinities (0.1 nM and 0.5 nM) at µ and δ opioid receptors respectively, and was found to have very potent agonist activities in MVD (56 ± 5.9 nM) and GPI (4.6 ± 1.9 nM) assays. In vivo the lead bivalent ligand 17 exhibited a short duration of action (<15 min) comparable to 4-anilidopiperidine derivatives, and moderate analgesic activity. The ligand 17 has limited application against acute pain but may have utility in settings where a highly reversible analgesic is required.

Discovery of 5-substituted tetrahydronaphthalen-2yl-methyl with N-phenyl-N-(piperidin-4-yl)propionamide derivatives as potent opioid receptor ligands.

A new series of novel opioid ligands have been designed and synthesized based on the 4-anilidopiperidine scaffold containing a 5-substituted tetrahydronaphthalen-2yl)methyl group with different N-phenyl-N-(piperidin-4-yl)propionamide derivatives to study the biological effects of these substituents on µ and δ opioid receptor interactions. Recently our group reported novel 4-anilidopiperidine analogues, in which several aromatic ring-contained amino acids were conjugated with N-phenyl-N-(piperidin-4-yl)propionamide and examined their biological activities at the µ and δ opioid receptors. In continuation of our efforts in these novel 4-anilidopiperidine analogues, we took a peptidomimetic approach in the present design, in which we substituted aromatic amino acids with tetrahydronaphthalen-2yl methyl moiety with amino, amide and hydroxyl substitutions at the 5th position. In in vitro assays these ligands, showed very good binding affinity and highly selective toward the µ opioid receptor. Among these, the lead ligand 20 showed excellent binding affinity (2 nM) and 5000 fold selectivity toward the µ opioid receptor, as well as functional selectivity in GPI assays (55.20 ± 4.30 nM) and weak or no agonist activities in MVD assays. Based on the in vitro bioassay results the lead compound 20 was chosen for in vivo assessment for efficacy in naïve rats after intrathecal administration. Compound 20 was not significantly effective in alleviating acute pain. This discrepancy between high in vitro binding affinity, moderate in vitro activity, and low in vivo activity may reflect differences in pharmacodynamics (i.e., engaging signaling pathways) or pharmacokinetics (i.e., metabolic stability). In sum, our data suggest that further optimization of this compound 20 is required to enhance in vivo activity.