Jing Li

Potent Taccalonolides, AF and AJ, Inform Significant Structure–Activity Relationships and Tubulin as the Binding Site of These Microtubule Stabilizers

The taccalonolides are a class of microtubule stabilizing agents isolated from plants of the genus Tacca. In efforts to define their structure-activity relationships, we isolated five new taccalonolides, AC-AF and H2, from one fraction of an ethanol extract of Tacca plantaginea. The structures were elucidated using a combination of spectroscopic methods, including 1D and 2D NMR and HR-ESI-MS. Taccalonolide AJ, an epoxidation product of taccalonolide B, was generated by semisynthesis. Five of these taccalonolides demonstrated cellular microtubule-stabilizing activities and antiproliferative actions against cancer cells, with taccalonolide AJ exhibiting the highest potency with an IC(50) value of 4.2 nM. The range of potencies of these compounds, from 4.2 nM to >50 μM, for the first time provides the opportunity to identify specific structural moieties crucial for potent biological activities as well as those that impede optimal cellular effects. In mechanistic assays, taccalonolides AF and AJ stimulated the polymerization of purified tubulin, an activity that had not previously been observed for taccalonolides A and B, providing the first evidence that this class of microtubule stabilizers can interact directly with tubulin/microtubules. Taccalonolides AF and AJ were able to enhance tubulin polymerization to the same extent as paclitaxel but exhibited a distinct kinetic profile, suggesting a distinct binding mode or the possibility of a new binding site. The potencies of taccalonolides AF and AJ and their direct interaction with tubulin, together with the previous excellent in vivo antitumor activity of this class, reveal the potential of the taccalonolides as new anticancer agents.

Taccalonolide Binding to Tubulin Imparts Microtubule Stability and Potent In Vivo Activity

The taccalonolides are highly acetylated steroids that stabilize cellular microtubules and overcome multiple mechanisms of taxane resistance. Recently, two potent taccalonolides, AF and AJ, were identified that bind to tubulin directly and enhance microtubule polymerization. Extensive studies were conducted to characterize these new taccalonolides. AF and AJ caused aberrant mitotic spindles and bundling of interphase microtubules that differed from the effects of either paclitaxel or laulimalide. AJ also distinctly affected microtubule polymerization in that it enhanced the rate and extent of polymerization in the absence of any noticeable effect on microtubule nucleation. In addition, the resulting microtubules were found to be profoundly cold stable. These data, along with studies showing synergistic antiproliferative effects between AJ and either paclitaxel or laulimalide, suggest a distinct binding site. Direct binding studies demonstrated that AJ could not be displaced from microtubules by paclitaxel, laulimalide, or denaturing conditions, suggesting irreversible binding of AJ to microtubules. Mass spectrometry confirmed a covalent interaction of AJ with a peptide of β-tubulin containing the cyclostreptin-binding sites. Importantly, AJ imparts strong inter-protofilament stability in a manner different from other microtubule stabilizers that covalently bind to tubulin, consistent with the distinct effects of the taccalonolides as compared with other stabilizers. AF was found to be a potent and effective antitumor agent that caused tumor regression in the MDA-MB-231 breast cancer xenograft model. The antitumor efficacy of some taccalonolides, which stabilize microtubules in a manner different from other microtubule stabilizers, provides the impetus to explore the therapeutic potential of this site.

Taccalonolide microtubule stabilizers

This review focuses on a relatively new class of microtubule stabilizers, the taccalonolides. The taccalonolides are highly oxygenated pentacyclic steroids isolated from plants of the genus Tacca. Originally identified in a cell-based phenotypic screen, the taccalonolides have many properties similar to other microtubule stabilizers. They increase the density of interphase microtubules, causing microtubule bundling, and form abnormal multi-polar mitotic spindles leading to mitotic arrest and, ultimately, apoptosis. However, the taccalonolides differ from other microtubule stabilizers in that they retain efficacy in taxane resistant cell lines and in vivo models. Binding studies with the newly identified, potent taccalonolide AJ demonstrated covalent binding to β-tubulin at or near the luminal and/or pore taxane binding site(s) which stabilizes microtubule protofilaments in a unique manner as compared to other microtubule stabilizers. The isolation and semi-synthesis of 21 taccalonolides helped to identify key structure activity relationships and the importance of multiple regions across the taccalonolide skeleton for optimal biological potency.

Hydrolysis reactions of the taccalonolides reveal structure-activity relationships

The taccalonolides are microtubule stabilizers isolated from plants of the genus Tacca that show potent in vivo antitumor activity and the ability to overcome multiple mechanisms of drug resistance. The most potent taccalonolide identified to date, AJ, is a semisynthetic product generated from the major plant metabolite taccalonolide A in a two-step reaction. The first step involves hydrolysis of taccalonolide A to generate taccalonolide B, and then this product is oxidized to generate an epoxide group at C-22-C-23. To generate sufficient taccalonolide AJ for in vivo antitumor efficacy studies, the hydrolysis conditions for the conversion of taccalonolide A to B were optimized. During purification of the hydrolysis products, we identified the new taccalonolide AO (1) along with taccalonolide I. When the same hydrolysis reaction was performed on a taccalonolide E-enriched fraction, four new taccalonolides, assigned as AK, AL, AM, and AN (2-5), were obtained in addition to the expected product taccalonolide N. Biological assays were performed on each of the purified taccalonolides, which allowed for increased refinement of the structure-activity relationship of this class of compounds.

Synthetic Reactions with Rare Taccalonolides Reveal the Value of C-22,23 Epoxidation for Microtubule Stabilizing Potency

The taccalonolides are microtubule stabilizers isolated from plants of the genus Tacca. Taccalonolide AF is 231 times more potent than the major metabolite taccalonolide A and differs only by the oxidation of the C-22,23 double bond in A to an epoxy group in AF. In the current study, 10 other rare natural taccalonolides were epoxidized and in each case epoxidation improved potency. The epoxidation products of taccalonolide T and AI were the most potent, with IC50 values of 0.43 and 0.88 nM, respectively. These potent taccalonolides retained microtubule stabilizing effects, and T-epoxide demonstrated antitumor effects in a xenograft model of breast cancer. Additional reactions demonstrated that reduction of the C-6 ketone resulted in an inactive taccalonolide and that C-22,23 epoxidation restored its activity. These studies confirm the value of C-22,23 epoxidation as an effective strategy for increasing the potency of a wide range of structurally diverse taccalonolide microtubule stabilizers.

Pharmacokinetic Analysis and in Vivo Antitumor Efficacy of Taccalonolides AF and AJ

The taccalonolides are microtubule stabilizers that covalently bind tubulin and circumvent clinically relevant forms of resistance to other drugs of this class. Efforts are under way to identify a taccalonolide with optimal properties for clinical development. The structurally similar taccalonolides AF and AJ have comparable microtubule-stabilizing activities in vitro, but taccalonolide AF has excellent in vivo antitumor efficacy when administered systemically, while taccalonolide AJ does not elicit this activity even at maximum tolerated dose. The hypothesis that pharmacokinetic differences underlie the differential efficacies of taccalonolides AF and AJ was tested. The effects of serum on their in vivo potency, metabolism by human liver microsomes and in vivo pharmacokinetic properties were evaluated. Taccalonolides AF and AJ were found to have elimination half-lives of 44 and 8.1 min, respectively. Furthermore, taccalonolide AJ was found to have excellent and highly persistent antitumor efficacy when administered directly to the tumor, suggesting that the lack of antitumor efficacy seen with systemic administration of AJ is likely due to its short half-life in vivo. These results help define why some, but not all, taccalonolides inhibit the growth of tumors at systemically tolerable doses and prompt studies to further improve their pharmacokinetic profile and antitumor efficacy.

Abstract 837: The unique profile of microtubule stability initiated by the taccalonolides leads to potent antitumor activities

Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA The taccalonolides are structurally distinct microtubule stabilizers purified from the roots and rhizomes of plants of the genus Tacca. The taccalonolides impart a unique mechanism of microtubule stabilization through covalent attachment to the 212-230 peptide of β-tubulin. The profound interprotofilament stability conferred by taccalonolide binding, as demonstrated by hydrogen deuterium exchange mass spectrometry, occurs independent of changes in the H7 or M-loops, which makes their effects different from other classes of microtubule stabilizers. This remarkable stability results in the formation of microtubules that are highly resistant to cold induced depolymerization or mechanical disruption. The covalent attachment of the taccalonolides to microtubules is proposed to be directly responsible for their strong cellular persistence and ability to circumvent multiple mechanisms of clinically relevant drug resistance, including expression of P-glycoprotein. We have isolated and characterized 66 new taccalonolides that range in potency from 0.37 nM to over 50 µM, allowing for detailed structure activity relationship studies. These studies demonstrate that epoxidation of the C22,23 double bond present in most naturally occurring taccalonolides is optimal for potency. A simple, one step oxidation reaction has been employed and increases the potency of 17 natural taccalonolides by as much as 700-fold. The new, potent taccalonolides show excellent antitumor activity against the MDA-MB-231 triple negative breast cancer xenograft model at cumulative doses as low as 0. 5 mg/kg. This exquisite in vivo potency facilitates antitumor evaluations from small quantities of material and allows administration in aqueous vehicles. Studies to further map the optimal interactions of the taccalonolide backbone with microtubules and identify a candidate for clinical development are in progress. Citation Format: April L. Risinger, Jing Li, Jiangnan Peng, Melissa J. Bennett, Cristina C. Rohena, David C. Schriemer, Susan L. Mooberry. The unique profile of microtubule stability initiated by the taccalonolides leads to potent antitumor activities. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 837. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-837