Xianchan Li

The anticancer drug cisplatin can cross-link the interdomain zinc site on human albumin.

Cisplatin, cis-[Pt(Cl(2)(NH(3))(2)], can crosslink residues His67 of domain I and His247 of domain II in human albumin, occupying the major binding site for the essential metal zinc on the protein.

Transferrin Serves As a Mediator to Deliver Organometallic Ruthenium(II) Anticancer Complexes into Cells

We report herein a systematic study on interactions of organometallic ruthenium(II) anticancer complex [(η(6)-arene)Ru(en)Cl](+) (arene = p-cymene (1) or biphenyl (2), en = ethylenediamine) with human transferrin (hTf) and the effects of the hTf-ligation on the bioavailability of these complexes with cisplatin as a reference. Incubated with a 5-fold excess of complex 1, 2, or cisplatin, 1 mol of diferric hTf (holo-hTf) attached 0.62 mol of 1, 1.01 mol of 2, or 2.14 mol of cisplatin. Mass spectrometry revealed that both ruthenium complexes coordinated to N-donors His242, His273, His578, and His606, whereas cisplatin bound to O donors Tyr136 and Tyr317 and S-donor Met256 in addition to His273 and His578 on the surface of both apo- and holo-hTf. Moreover, cisplatin could bind to Thr457 within the C-lobe iron binding cleft of apo-hTf. Neither ruthenium nor platinum binding interfered with the recognition of holo-hTf by the transferrin receptor (TfR). The ruthenated/platinated holo-hTf complexes could be internalized via TfR-mediated endocytosis at a similar rate to that of holo-hTf itself. Moreover, the binding to holo-hTf well preserved the bioavailability of the ruthenium complexes, and the hTf-bound 1 and 2 showed a similar cytotoxicity toward the human breast cancer cell line MCF-7 to those of the complexes themselves. However, the conjugation with holo-hTf significantly reduced the cellular uptake of cisplatin and the amount of platinated DNA adducts formed intracellularly, leading to dramatic reduction of cisplatin cytotoxicity toward MCF-7. These findings suggest that hTf can serve as a mediator for the targeting delivery of Ru(arene) anticancer complexes while deactivating cisplatin.

Quantitative Mass Spectrometry Combined with Separation and Enrichment of Phosphopeptides by Titania Coated Magnetic Mesoporous Silica Microspheres for Screening of Protein Kinase Inhibitors

We describe herein the development of a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight-mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) approach for screening of protein kinase inhibitors (PKIs). MS quantification of phosphopeptides, the kinase-catalyzed products of nonphosphorylated substrates, is a great challenge due to the ion suppression effect of highly abundant nonphosphorylated peptides in enzymatic reaction mixtures. To address this issue, a novel type of titania coated magnetic hollow mesoporous silica spheres (TiO(2)/MHMSS) material was fabricated for capturing phosphopeptides from the enzymatic reaction mixtures prior to MS analysis. Under optimized conditions, even in the presence of 1000-fold of a substrate peptide of tyrosine kinase epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), the phosphorylated substrates at the femtomole level can be detected with high accuracy and reproducibility. With a synthetic nonisotopic labeled phosphopeptide, of which the sequence is similar to that of the phosphorylated substrate, as the internal standard, the MS signal ratio of the phosphorylated substrate to the standard is linearly correlated with the molar ratio of the two phosphopeptides in peptide mixtures over the range of 0.1 to 4 with r(2) being 0.99. The IC(50) values of three EGFR inhibitors synthesized in our laboratory were then determined, and the results are consistent with those determined by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The developed method is sensitive, cost/time-effective, and operationally simple and does not require isotope/radioative-labeling, providing an ideal alterative for screening of PKIs as therapeutic agents.

Organometallic ruthenium anticancer complexes inhibit human glutathione-S-transferase π

The organometallic ruthenium(II) anticancer complexes [(η(6)-arene)Ru(en)Cl](+) (arene = p-cymene (1), biphenyl (2) or 9,10-dihydrophenanthrene (3); en = ethylenediamine), exhibit in vitro and in vivo anticancer activities. In the present work, we show that they inhibit human glutathione-S-transferase π (GSTπ) with IC50 values of 59.4 ± 1.3, 63.2 ± 0.4 and 37.2 ± 1.1 μM, respectively. Mass spectrometry revealed that complex 1 binds to the S-donors of Cys15, Cys48 within the G-site and Cys102 at the interface of the GSTπ dimer, while complex 2 binds to Cys48 and Met92 at the dimer interface and complex 3 to Cys15, Cys48 and Met92. Moreover, the binding of complex 1 to Cys15 and Cys102, complex 2 to Cys48 and complex 3 to Cys15 induces the irreversible oxidation of the coordinated thiolates to sulfenates. Molecular modeling studies indicate that the coordination of the {(arene)Ru(en)}(2+) fragment to Cys48 blocks the hydrophilic G-site sterically, perhaps preventing substrate from proper positioning and accounting for the reduction in enzymatic activity of ruthenated GSTπ. The binding of the ruthenium arene complexes to Cys102 or Met92 disrupts the dimer interface which is an essential structural feature for the proper functioning of GSTπ, perhaps also contributing to the inhibition of GSTπ.

Competitive Binding Sites of a Ruthenium Arene Anticancer Complex on Oligonucleotides Studied by Mass Spectrometry: Ladder-Sequencing versus Top-Down

AbstractWe report identification of the binding sites for an organometallic ruthenium anticancer complex [(η6-biphenyl)Ru(en)Cl][PF6] (1; en = ethylenediamine) on the 15-mer single-stranded oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs), 5′-CTCTCTX7G8Y9CTTCTC-3′ [X = Y = T (I); X = C and Y = A (II); X = A and Y = T (III); X = T and Y = A (IV)] by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) in conjunction with enzymatic digestion or tandem mass spectrometry (top-down MS). ESI-MS combined with enzymatic digestion (termed MS-based ladder-sequencing), is effective for identification of the thermodynamically-favored G-binding sites, but not applicable to determine the thermodynamically unstable T-binding sites because the T-bound adducts dissociate during enzymatic digestion. In contrast, top-down MS is efficient for localization of the T binding sites, but not suitable for mapping ruthenated G bases, due to the facile fragmentation of G bases from ODN backbones prior to the dissociation of the phosphodiester bonds. The combination of the two MS approaches reveals that G8 in each ODN is the preferred binding site for 1, and that the T binding sites of 1 are either T7 or T11 on I and IV, and either T6 or T11 on II and III, respectively. These findings not only demonstrate for the first time that T-bases in single-stranded oligonucleotides are kinetically competitive with guanine for such organoruthenium complexes, but also illustrate the relative merits of the combination of ladder-sequencing and top-down MS approaches to elucidate the interactions of metal anticancer complexes with DNA.

Mass spectrometric proteomics reveals that nuclear protein positive cofactor PC4 selectively binds to cross-linked DNA by a trans-platinum anticancer complex.

An MS-based proteomic strategy combined with chemically functionalized gold nanoparticles as affinity probes was developed and validated by successful identification and quantification of HMGB1, which is well characterized to interact selectively with 1,2-cross-linked DNA by cisplatin, from whole cell lysates. The subsequent application of this method to identify proteins responding to 1,3-cross-linked DNA by a trans-platinum anticancer complex, trans-PtTz (Tz = thiazole), revealed that the human nuclear protein positive cofactor PC4 selectively binds to the damaged DNA, implying that PC4 may play a role in cellular response to DNA damage by trans-PtTz.

Synthesis and docking study of 2-phenylaminopyrimidine Abl tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

Six analogs of imatinib, an Abl kinase inhibitor clinically used as a first-line therapeutic agent for chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), have been synthesized and characterized. And their potency as Abl kinase inhibitors have been screened by a robust virtual screening method developed based on the crystal structure (PDB code 2hyy) of Abl-imatinib complex using Surflex-Docking. The docking results are consistent with the inhibitory potency of the compounds characterized by MS method. And the H-bonds between imatinib analogs and Thr315 and Met318 residues in Abl kinase are shown to be crucial for achieving accurate poses and high binding affinities for the ATP-competitive kinase inhibitors.

Reactions of an organoruthenium anticancer complex with 2-mercaptobenzanilide--a model for the active-site cysteine of protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B.

The organometallic anticancer complex [(η(6)-p-cymene)Ru(en)Cl]PF(6) (1, en = ethylenediamine) readily reacts with thiols and forms stable sulfenate/sulfinate adducts which may be important for its biological activity. Protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B), a therapeutic target, contains a catalytic cysteinyl thiol and is involved in the regulation of insulin signaling and the balance of protein tyrosine kinase activity. On oxidation, the catalytic Cys215 can form an unusual sulfenyl-amide intermediate which can subsequently be reduced by glutathione. Here we study reactions of 1 with 2-mercaptobenzanilide, 2, a recognized model for the active site of PTP1B. We have characterized crystallographically compound 2 and its oxidized sulfenyl-amide derivative 2-phenyl-1,2-benzisothiazol-3(2H)-one (4), which shows a close structural similarity to the sulfenyl-amide in oxidized PTP1B. At pH 7.4 and 5.3, 1 reacted with 2, affording a mono-ruthenium thiolato complex [(η(6)-cym)Ru(en)(S-RS)](+) (7(+), R = (C(6)H(4))CONH(C(6)H(5))) and a triply-S-bridged thiolato complex [((η(6)-cym)Ru)(2)(μ-S-RS)(3)](+) (8(+)), respectively. Coordination of Ru to the S atom in 7 allows formation of a strong H-bond (2.02 Å) between the en-NH and the carbonyl oxygen. To assess the possible effect of ruthenium coordination on the redox regulation of PTP1B, reactions of these thiolato products with H(2)O(2) and/or GSH were then investigated, demonstrating that coordination to Ru largely retards both the oxidation (deactivation) of the thiol in compound 2 by H(2)O(2) and the subsequent reduction (reactivation) of the sulfenyl-amide by GSH, implying that the inhibition of complex 1 on PTP1B (IC(50) of 19 μM) may be attributed to coordination to its catalytic cysteine.