Water-Soluble Heliomycin Derivatives to Target i-Motif DNA.

Heliomycin (also known as resistomycin) is an antibiotic with a broad spectrum of biological activities. However, low aqueous solubility and poor knowledge of its chemical properties have limited the development of this natural product. Here, we present an original scheme for the introduction of aminoalkylamine residues at positions 3, 5, and 7 of heliomycin and, using this, have prepared a series of novel water-soluble derivatives. The addition of side chains to the heliomycin scaffold significantly improves their interaction with different DNA secondary structures. One derivative, 7-deoxy-7-(2-aminoethyl)amino-10-O-methylheliomycin (8e), demonstrated affinity, stabilization potential, and good selectivity toward i-motif-forming DNA sequences over the duplex and G-quadruplex. Heliomycin derivatives therefore represent promising molecular scaffolds for further development as DNA-i-motif interacting ligands and potential chemotherapeutic agents.

Semi-Synthetic Derivatives of Heliomycin with an Antiproliferative Potency.

BACKGROUND: Heliomycin (resistomycin), an antibiotic with broad spectra of biological activities including antimicrobial, antifungal, antiviral, and antiproliferative. However, an extremely low solubility in aqueous media and in the majority of organic solvents limits its practical application. OBJECTIVE: Due to a high practical potential of heliomycin, new routes of structural modification are strongly required to improve its solubility. CONCLUSION: The patent claims a series of 4-aminomethyl derivatives of heliomycin as well as a pharmaceutical composition based on it. Application of Mannich aminomethylation allowed to diversify the structure of initial antibiotic and to obtain the derivatives with significantly improved water solubility and a potent antiproliferative efficacy.

Aminomethylation of heliomycin: Preparation and anticancer characterization of the first series of semi-synthetic derivatives.

A series of 4-aminomethyl derivatives of heliomycin 1 was prepared using the Mannich reaction. The modification significantly improved aqueous solubility of the initially poorly soluble antibiotic. Testing the antiproliferative efficacy revealed a potent activity of heliomycin as well as its new derivatives on a panel of mammalian tumor cells including drug resistant variants. In contrast to 1 the new derivatives 7a, 7l, 7p generated a high level of ROS associated with induction of apoptosis in T24 bladder cancer cells. Introduction of 4-aminomethyl moiety increased the affinity to DNA and the ability to inhibit topoisomerase 1 making 7p the most promising candidate for further preclinical evaluation. Thus, aminomethylation is the first-in-class successful transformation of the antibiotic 1 resulting in an improved water solubility of derivatives and promising properties in search of novel anticancer drug candidates.