Frédéric Buron

Pyridine-based lanthanide complexes combining MRI and NIR luminescence activities.

A series of novel triazole derivative pyridine-based polyamino-polycarboxylate ligands has been synthesized for lanthanide complexation. This versatile platform of chelating agents combines advantageous properties for both magnetic resonance (MR) and optical imaging applications of the corresponding Gd(3+) and near-infrared luminescent lanthanide complexes. The thermodynamic stability constants of the Ln(3+) complexes, as assessed by pH potentiometric measurements, are in the range log K(LnL)=17-19, with a high selectivity for lanthanides over Ca(2+), Cu(2+), and Zn(2+). The complexes are bishydrated, an important advantage to obtain high relaxivities for the Gd(3+) chelates. The water exchange of the Gd(3+) complexes (k(ex)(298)=7.7-9.3×10(6) s(-1)) is faster than that of clinically used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents and proceeds through a dissociatively activated mechanism, as evidenced by the positive activation volumes (ΔV(≠)=7.2-8.8 cm(3) mol(-1)). The new triazole ligands allow a considerable shift towards lower excitation energies of the luminescent lanthanide complexes as compared to the parent pyridinic complex, which is a significant advantage in the perspective of biological applications. In addition, they provide increased epsilon values resulting in a larger number of emitted photons and better detection sensitivity. The most conjugated system PheTPy, bearing a phenyl-triazole pendant on the pyridine ring, is particularly promising as it displays the lowest excitation and triplet-state energies associated with good quantum yields for both Nd(3+) and Yb(3+) complexes. Cellular and in vivo toxicity studies in mice evidenced the non-toxicity and the safe use of such bishydrated complexes in animal experiments. Overall, these pyridinic ligands constitute a highly versatile platform for the simultaneous optimization of both MRI and optical properties of the Gd(3+) and the luminescent lanthanide complexes, respectively.

The Azaindole Framework in the Design of Kinase Inhibitors

This review article illustrates the growing use of azaindole derivatives as kinase inhibitors and their contribution to drug discovery and innovation. The different protein kinases which have served as targets and the known molecules which have emerged from medicinal chemistry and Fragment-Based Drug Discovery (FBDD) programs are presented. The various synthetic routes used to access these compounds and the chemical pathways leading to their synthesis are also discussed. An analysis of their mode of binding based on X-ray crystallography data gives structural insights for the design of more potent and selective inhibitors.

Synthesis of chromeno[3,4-b]indoles as Lamellarin D analogues : A novel DYRK1A inhibitor class

A library of substituted chromeno[3,4-b]indoles was developed as Lamellarin isosters. Synthesis was achieved from indoles after a four-step pathway sequence involving C-3 iodination, a Suzuki cross-coupling reaction, and a one pot deprotection/lactonisation step. Twenty final compounds were tested in order to determine their activity against topoisomerase I and kinases, the two major biological activities of Lamellarins. One newly synthesized derivative exhibited a strong topoisomerase activity comparable to reference compounds such as campthotecin and Lamellarin with only a weak kinase inhibition. Two other lead compounds were identified as new nanomolar DYRK1A inhibitors and several other drugs affected the kinases in the sub-micromolar range. These results will enable us to use the chromeno[3,4-b]indole as a pharmacophore to develop potent treatments for neurological or oncological disorders in which DYRK1A is fully involved.

Isoquinoline-Based Lanthanide Complexes: Bright NIR Optical Probes and Efficient MRI Agents

In the objective of developing ligands that simultaneously satisfy the requirements for MRI contrast agents and near-infrared emitting optical probes that are suitable for imaging, three isoquinoline-based polyaminocarboxylate ligands, L1, L2 and L3, have been synthesized and the corresponding Gd(3+), Nd(3+) and Yb(3+) complexes investigated. The specific challenge of the present work was to create NIR emitting agents which (i) have excitation wavelengths compatible with biological applications and (ii) are able to emit a sufficient number of photons to ensure sensitive NIR detection for microscopic imaging. Here we report the first observation of a NIR signal arising from a Ln(3+) complex in aqueous solution in a microscopy setup. The lanthanide complexes have high thermodynamic stability (log K(LnL) =17.7-18.7) and good selectivity for lanthanide ions versus the endogenous cations Zn(2+), Cu(2+), and Ca(2+) thus preventing transmetalation. A variable temperature and pressure (17)O NMR study combined with nuclear magnetic relaxation dispersion measurements yielded the microscopic parameters characterizing water exchange and rotation. Bishydration of the lanthanide cation in the complexes, an important advantage to obtain high relaxivity for the Gd(3+) chelates, has been demonstrated by (17)O chemical shifts for the Gd(3+) complexes and by luminescence lifetime measurements for the Yb(3+) analogues. The water exchange on the three Gd(3+) complexes is considerably faster (k(ex)(298) = (13.9-15.4) × 10(6) s(-1)) than on commercial Gd(3+)-based contrast agents and proceeds via a dissociative mechanism, as evidenced by the large positive activation volumes for GdL1 and GdL2 (+10.3 ± 0.9 and +10.6 ± 0.9 cm(3) mol(-1), respectively). The relaxivity of GdL1 is doubled at 40 MHz and 298 K in fetal bovine serum (r(1) = 16.1 vs 8.5 mM(-1) s(-1) in HEPES buffer), due to hydrophobic interactions between the chelate and serum proteins. The isoquinoline core allows for the optimization of the optical properties of the luminescent lanthanide complexes in comparison to the pyridinic analogues and provides significant shifts of the excitation energies toward lower values which therefore become more adapted for biological applications. L2 and L3 bear two methoxy substituents on the aromatic core in ortho and para positions, respectively, that further modulate their electronic structure. The Nd(3+) and Yb(3+) complexes of the ligand L3, which incorporates the p-dimethoxyisoquinoline moiety, can be excited up to 420 nm. This wavelength is shifted over 100 nm toward lower energy in comparison to the pyridine-based analogue. The luminescence quantum yields of the Nd(3+) (0.013-0.016%) and Yb(3+) chelates (0.028-0.040%) are in the range of the best nonhydrated complexes, despite the presence of two inner sphere water molecules. More importantly, the 980 nm NIR emission band of YbL3 was detected with a good sensitivity in a proof of concept microscopy experiment at a concentration of 10 μM in fetal bovine serum. Our results demonstrate that even bishydrated NIR lanthanide complexes can emit a sufficient number of photons to ensure sensitive detection in practical applications. In particular, these ligands containing an aromatic core with coordinating pyridine nitrogen can be easily modified to tune the optical properties of the NIR luminescent lanthanide complexes while retaining good complex stability and MRI characteristics for the Gd(3+) analogues. They constitute a highly versatile platform for the development of bimodal MR and optical imaging probes based on a simple mixture of Gd(3+) and Yb(3+)/Nd(3+) complexes using an identical chelator. Given the presence of two inner sphere water molecules, important for MRI applications of the corresponding Gd(3+) analogues, this result is particularly exciting and opens wide perspectives not only for NIR imaging based on Ln(3+) ions but also for the design of combined NIR optical and MRI probes.

Design, synthesis, and biological activity of pyridopyrimidine scaffolds as novel PI3K/mTOR dual inhibitors.

The design, synthesis, and screening of dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitors that gave nanomolar enzymatic and cellular activities on both targets with an acceptable kinase selectivity profile are described. A docking study was performed to understand the binding mode of the compounds and to explain the differences in biological activity. In addition, cellular effects of the best dual inhibitors were determined on six cancer cell lines and compared to those on a healthy diploid cell line for cellular cytotoxicity. Two compounds are highly potent on cancer cells in the submicromolar range without any toxicity on healthy cells. A more detailed analysis of the cellular effect of these PI3K/mTOR dual inhibitors demonstrated that they induce G1-phase cell cycle arrest in breast cancer cells and trigger apoptosis. These compounds show an interesting kinase profile as dual PI3K/mTOR tool compounds or as a chemical series for further optimization to progress into in vivo experiments.

PiB-Conjugated, Metal-Based Imaging Probes: Multimodal Approaches for the Visualization of β-Amyloid Plaques.

In an effort toward the visualization of β-amyloid plaques by in vivo imaging techniques, we have conjugated an optimized derivative of the Pittsburgh compound B (PiB), a well-established marker of Aβ plaques, to DO3A-monoamide that is capable of forming stable, noncharged complexes with different trivalent metal ions including Gd(3+) for MRI and (111)In(3+) for SPECT applications. Proton relaxivity measurements evidenced binding of Gd(DO3A-PiB) to the amyloid peptide Aβ1-40 and to human serum albumin, resulting in a two- and four-fold relaxivity increase, respectively. Ex vivo immunohistochemical studies showed that the DO3A-PiB complexes selectively target Aβ plaques on Alzheimers disease human brain tissue. Ex vivo biodistribution data obtained for the (111)In-analogue pointed to a moderate blood-brain barrier (BBB) penetration in adult male Swiss mice (without amyloid deposits) with 0.36% ID/g in the cortex at 2 min postinjection.

Recent advances in the chemistry and biology of pyridopyrimidines.

The interest in pyridopyrimidine cores for pharmaceutical products makes this scaffold a highly useful building block for organic chemistry. These derivatives have found applications in various areas of medicine such as anticancer, CNS, fungicidal, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antibacterial therapies. This review mainly focuses on the progress achieved since 2004 in the chemistry and biological activity of pyridopyrimidines.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of 2,3-bis(het)aryl-4-azaindole derivatives as protein kinase inhibitors

The synthesis of several novel 4-azaindoles was carried out by novel Fischer reaction which offers as a main advantage, the synthesis of the bisfunctionalized 4-azaindolic building block in one step. The final compounds were evaluated on a panel of 5 kinases in order to evaluate their selectivity and on 7 cancer cell lines to determine their cytotoxic effects. RAF-1 and DYRK1A inhibitions were found, docking studies explain fully the results.

Hydrophobic chromophore cargo in micellar structures: a different strategy to sensitize lanthanide cations

We propose a new approach for the versatile sensitization of luminescent lanthanide cations. A hydrophobic chromophore is incorporated into a micellar assembly formed by the amphiphilic lanthanide chelate. The sensitizer to lanthanide energy transfer occurs between the two moieties without covalent linkage.

Analytical developments for 47 pesticides: first identification of neutral chloroacetanilide derivatives in French groundwater

A new analytical methodology for neutral derivatives of chloroacetanilides made it possible to detect, for the first time in a European groundwater monitoring campaign, three metabolites (hydroxymetolachlor, metolachlor morpholinone and deschlorometolachlor) in addition to ethane sulfonic acid (ESA) and oxanilic acid (OXA) metabolites, which were first detected in 2009. The analytical method involves solid phase extraction and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). Recoveries ranged from 64 to 101%, and limits of quantification were validated at 5, 10 or 20 ng/L, depending on the molecule, in natural water. Most of the chloroacetanilide metabolites were synthesised, as many standards are not commercially available.