Manuel M. Paz

A stereodivergent chirospecific synthesis of (3R) and (3S) 3-hydroxyaspartates by hydroxylation of aspartate diester enolates

Abstract A chirospecific and stereodivergent synthesis of N-(9-phenylfluorenyl)-3-hydroxyaspartates by hydroxylation of aspartate enolates is described. The stereochemistry of the newly created chiral center is controlled by the nature of the enolate counterion and the ligand coordinating ability of the solvents.

A versatile, enantioselective, stereocontrolled synthesis of (1S,2R)-imidazoleglycerol

Abstract An efficient (21% overall yield), enantio- and diastereoseleclive, 11-step synthesis of (1 S ,2 R )-imidazoleglycerol has been developed. The key steps are the stereoselective hydroxylation of an acyloxazolidinone enolate, the alkylation of a thioester with (MOMOCH 2 ) 2 CuLi and the stereodivergent reduction of the resulting ketone. The scope of the reaction of the enolate derived from 10 with heteroatom electrophiles has been studied.

The Molecular Toxicology of Mitomycin C

Abstract The drug mitomycin C (MMC) is used in the clinic for the chemotherapy of several types of cancer. Two distinctive features define the mode of action of MMC: First, it is a prodrug that requires a reductive activation to exert its biological effects; second, the activation generates a highly reactive bis-electrophile that reacts with several cellular nucleophiles. The most studied biological target for MMC is DNA, but additional targets such as RNA and proteins may also play a role in its biological activity. In this chapter, we review the present knowledge on the molecular mode of action of mitomycin C, starting with the enzymology of its reductive activation. The central part of this chapter focuses on DNA as a target for MMC: the characterization of covalent DNA–MMC adducts, its mechanism of formation, their detection, and their biological processing. Last, we review recent research on other cellular targets for MMC.

Reductive activation of mitomycins A and C by vitamin C.

The anticancer drug mitomycin C produces cytotoxic effects after being converted to a highly reactive bis-electrophile by a reductive activation, a reaction that a number of 1-electron or 2-electron oxidoreductase enzymes can perform in cells. Several reports in the literature indicate that ascorbic acid can modulate the cytotoxic effects of mitomycin C, either potentiating or inhibiting its effects. As ascorbic acid is a reducing agent that is known to be able to reduce quinones, it could be possible that the observed modulatory effects are a consequence of a direct redox reduction between mitomycin C and ascorbate. To determine if this is the case, the reaction between mitomycin C and ascorbate was studied using UV/Vis spectroscopy and LC/MS. We also studied the reaction of ascorbate with mitomycin A, a highly toxic member of the mitomycin family with a higher redox potential than mitomycin C. We found that ascorbate is capable to reduce mitomycin A efficiently, but it reduces mitomycin C rather inefficiently. The mechanisms of activation have been elucidated based on the kinetics of the reduction and on the analysis of the mitosene derivatives formed after the reaction. We found that the activation occurs by the interplay of three different mechanisms that contribute differently, depending on the pH of the reaction. As the reduction of mitomycin C by ascorbate is rather inefficiently at physiologically relevant pH values we conclude that the modulatory effect of ascorbate on the cytotoxicity of mitomycin C is not the result of a direct redox reaction and therefore this modulation must be the consequence of other biochemical mechanisms.

Synthesis of a major mitomycin C DNA adduct via a triaminomitosene.

We report here the synthesis of two amino precursors for the production of mitomycin C and 10-decarbamoylmitomycin C DNA adducts with opposite stereochemistry at C-1. The triamino mitosene precursors were synthesized in 5 steps from mitomycin C. In addition synthesis of the major mitomycin C-DNA adduct has been accomplished via coupling of a triaminomitosene with 2-fluoro-O(6)-(2-p-nitrophenylethyl)deoxyinosine followed by deprotection at the N(2) and O(6) positions.

Synthesis of Mitomycin C and Decarbamoylmitomycin C N2 deoxyguanosine-adducts

Mitomycin C (MC) and Decarbamoylmitomycin C (DMC) - a derivative of MC lacking the carbamate on C10 - are DNA alkylating agents. Their cytotoxicity is attributed to their ability to generate DNA monoadducts as well as intrastrand and interstrand cross-links (ICLs). The major monoadducts generated by MC and DMC in tumor cells have opposite stereochemistry at carbon one of the guanine-mitosene bond: trans (or alpha) for MC and cis (or beta) for DMC. We hypothesize that local disruptions of DNA structure from trans or cis adducts are responsible for the different biochemical responses produced by MC and DMC. Access to DNA substrates bearing cis and trans MC/DMC lesions is essential to verify this hypothesis. Synthetic oligonucleotides bearing trans lesions can be obtained by bio-mimetic methods. However, this approach does not yield cis adducts. This report presents the first chemical synthesis of a cis mitosene DNA adduct. We also examined the stereopreference exhibited by the two drugs at the mononucleotide level by analyzing the formation of cis and trans adducts in the reaction of deoxyguanosine with MC or DMC using a variety of activation conditions. In addition, we performed Density Functional Theory calculations to evaluate the energies of these reactions. Direct alkylation under autocatalytic or bifunctional conditions yielded preferentially alpha adducts with both MC and DMC. DFT calculations showed that under bifunctional activation, the thermodynamically favored adducts are alpha, trans, for MC and beta, cis, for DMC. This suggests that the duplex DNA structure may stabilize/oriente the activated pro-drugs so that, with DMC, formation of the thermodynamically favored beta products are possible in a cellular environment.

Reaction of reductively activated mitomycin C with aqueous bicarbonate: Isolation and characterization of an oxazolidinone derivative of cis-1-hydroxy-2,7-diaminomitosene

The reductive activation of mitomycin C in aqueous bicarbonate buffer resulted in the formation of a previously unknown compound, characterized as an oxazolidinone derivative of cis-1-hydroxy-2,7-diaminomitosene. This compound is the result of a cyclization reaction of bicarbonate with the aziridine ring of aziridinomitosene, and was observed at bicarbonate concentrations close to those present in physiological plasma.

Sequence-Dependent Diastereospecific and Diastereodivergent Crosslinking of DNA by Decarbamoylmitomycin C

Mitomycinu2005C (MC), a potent antitumor drug, and decarbamoylmitomycinu2005C (DMC), a derivative lacking the carbamoyl group, form highly cytotoxic DNA interstrand crosslinks. The major interstrand crosslink formed by DMC is the C1 epimer of the major crosslink formed by MC. The molecular basis for the stereochemical configuration exhibited by DMC was investigated using biomimetic synthesis. The formation of DNA-DNA crosslinks by DMC is diastereospecific and diastereodivergent: Only the 1S-diastereomer of the initially formed monoadduct can form crosslinks at GpC sequences, and only the 1R-diastereomer of the monoadduct can form crosslinks at CpG sequences. We also show that CpG and GpC sequences react with divergent diastereoselectivity in the first alkylation step: 1S stereochemistry is favored at GpC sequences and 1R stereochemistry is favored at CpG sequences. Therefore, the first alkylation step results, at each sequence, in the selective formation of the diastereomer able to generate an interstrand DNA-DNA crosslink after the second arm alkylation. Examination of the known DNA adduct pattern obtained after treatment of cancer cell cultures with DMC indicates that the GpC sequence is the major target for the formation of DNA-DNA crosslinks in vivo by this drug.

Interdependent Sequence Selectivity and Diastereoselectivity in the Alkylation of DNA by Decarbamoylmitomycin C

Mitomycin C (MC), an antitumor drug, and decarbamoylmitomycinu2005C (DMC), a derivative of MC, alkylate DNA and form deoxyguanosine monoadducts and interstrand crosslinks (ICLs). Interestingly, in mammalian culture cells, MC forms primarily deoxyguanosine adducts with a 1-R stereochemistry at the guanine-mitosene bond (1-α) whereas DMC forms mainly adducts with a 1-S stereochemistry (1-β). The molecular basis for the stereochemical configuration exhibited by DMC has been investigated using biomimetic synthesis. Here, we present the results of our studies on the monoalkylation of DNA by DMC. We show that the formation of 1-β-deoxyguanosine adducts requires bifunctional reductive activation of DMC, and that monofunctional activation only produces 1-α-adducts. The stereochemistry of the deoxyguanosine adducts formed is also dependent on the regioselectivity of DNA alkylation and on the overall DNA CG content. Additionally, we found that temperature plays a determinant role in the regioselectivity of duplex DNA alkylation by mitomycins: At 0u2009°C, both deoxyadenosine (dA) and deoxyguanosine (dG) alkylation occur whereas at 37u2009°C, mitomycins alkylate dG preferentially. The new reaction protocols developed in our laboratory to investigate DMC-DNA alkylation raise the possibility that oligonucleotides containing DMC 1-β-deoxyguanosine adducts at a specific site may be synthesized by a biomimetic approach.

Isolation and Rationale for the Formation of Isomeric Decarbamoylmitomycin C-N6-deoxyadenosine Adducts in DNA

Mitomycin C (MC) is an anticancer agent that alkylates DNA to form monoadducts and interstrand cross-links. Decarbamoylmitomycin C (DMC) is an analogue of MC lacking the carbamate on C10. The major DNA adducts isolated from treatment of culture cells with MC and DMC are N2-deoxyguanosine (dG) adducts and adopt an opposite stereochemical configuration at the dG-mitosene bond. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms of DMC-DNA alkylation, we have reacted short oligonucleotides, calf thymus, and M. luteus DNA with DMC using biomimetic conditions. These experiments revealed that DMC is able to form two stereoisomeric deoxyadenosine (dA) adducts with DNA under bifuntional reduction conditions and at low temperature. The dA-DMC adducts formed were detected and quantified by HPLC analysis after enzymatic digestion of the alkylated DNA substrates. Results revealed the following rules for DMC dA alkylation: (i) DMC dA adducts are formed at a 48- to 4-fold lower frequency than dG adducts, (ii) the 5-phosphodiester linkage of the dA adducts is resistant to snake venom diesterase, (iii) end-chain dA residues are more reactive than internal ones in duplex DNA, and (iv) nucleophilic addition by dA occurs on both faces of DMC and the ratio of stereoisomeric dA adducts formed is dependent on the end bases located at the 3 or 5 position. A key finding was to discover that temperature plays a determinant role in the regioselectivity of duplex DNA alkylation by DMC: at 0 °C, both dA and dG alkylation occur, whereas at 37 °C, DMC preferentially alkylates dG residues.