A high-yielding method was developed for the preparation of ingenol 3-angelate (PEP005, ingenol mebutate) via the corresponding 5,20-acetonide without concomitant isomerization of the angelate (Z-form) to the corresponding tiglate (E-form). The general scope of the stereoconservative esterification method was further evaluated on several different alcohols, giving the angelates in up to quantitative yield without isomerization to the tiglate.
Label from [6-14C]-Δ1-piperideine is incorporated nonrandomly into the carbon skeleton of the quinolizidine alkaloid, matrine, in Sophora tetraptera and S. microphylla. The distribution of radioactivity was determined by a new chemical degradation sequence. On the basis of the results, one of two previously postulated biogenetic schemes must be discarded. A modified biogenetic scheme is presented which is consistent with the present results and also leads to the correct stereochemistry of matrine.
A known catabolic pathway of S-methyl-L-methionine in higher plants: donation of a methyl group to L-homocysteine resulting in the production of two molecules of L-methionine, is subjected to stereochemical studies. The two, diastereoisomeric (2-2H, methyl-' 3C)-S-methyl-~-methionines are synthesized and utilised in transmethylation reactions with L-homocysteine as the acceptor and an enzyme preparation from jack beans as a catalyst. The resulting, variously labelled methionine species are converted into butyl esters of the N-trifluoroacetylated derivatives and, as such, subjected to g.1.c. combined with mass spectrometry in two ionisation modes. Experimentally determined parameters such as mass peak intensities, isotopic enrichment factors, diastereoisomeric purities, and protein-derived methionine, are utilised for calculating the stereoselectivity in the enzyme transfer of the diastereoisotopic methyl groups from S-methyl -L-methionine to L-homocysteine. Together, the independent results from the two series of diastereoisomers reveal an enzymic preference of the pro-(R) -* For preliminary accounts of this work,
It is shown by 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy that the labelled C2 fragment of [2,3-13C2]pyruvic acid is transferred intact into the C-methyl group and the adjacent carbon atom of the Ephedra alkaloids, norephedrine, ephedrine, norpseudoephedrine, and pseudoephedrine, in growing plants of Ephedragerardiana. This finding serves to identify pyruvate as the elusive precursor of the aliphatic C2 terminus of the skeleton of the alkaloids. In earlier experiments with C-labelled substrates, label from [3-14C]pyruvic acid was incorporated mainly, but not exclusively, into the C-methyl group of ephedrine, and label from [2-14C]pyruvate was incorporated similarly into the carbon atom adjacent to the C-methyl group. A C6–C1 unit related to benzaldehyde or benzoic acid has long been known to generate the benzylic fragment of the carbon skeleton of the Ephedra alkaloids. It is likely that the carbon skeleton of ephedrine is generated from pyruvate and either benzaldehyde or benzoic acid, by a reaction analogous to the formation of acetoin or diacetyl from pyruvate and acetaldehyde or acetic acid, respectively. Keywords: biosynthesis of ephedrine, Ephedra alkaloids, 13C NMR spectra, ephedrine, biosynthesis of pyruvic acid, incorporation into ephedrine13C NMR spectra.
IntroductionIngenol mebutate gel (Picato®, LEO Pharma A/S) is approved for the field treatment of actinic keratosis and is characterized by high sustained clearance of actinic lesions. The inherent propensity of ingenol mebutate towards chemical rearrangement necessitates refrigeration of the final product. We sought to identify novel ingenol derivatives with enhanced chemical stability and similar or improved in vitro potency and in vivo efficacy.MethodsA number of ingenol esters were synthesized with full regiocontrol from ingenol. Chemical stability was determined in aqueous buffer at physiological pH and hydroalcoholic gel at lower pH. Acute cytotoxicity was determined in HeLa or HSC-5 cells. Keratinocyte proliferation, viability and caspase 3/7 activation was measured in primary epidermal keratinocytes. Relative gene expression levels were determined by real-time quantitative PCR. Evaluation of in vivo tumor ablating potential was performed in the murine B16 melanoma mouse model and in the UV-induced skin carcinogenesis model in hairless SKH-1 mice following topical treatment for two consecutive days with test compounds formulated at 0.1% in a hydroalcoholic gel.ResultsThis work resulted in the identification of ingenol disoxate (LEO 43204) displaying increased stability in a clinically relevant formulation and in aqueous buffer with minimal pH-dependent acyl migration degradation. Ingenol disoxate exhibited a significantly higher cytotoxic potency relative to ingenol mebutate. Likewise, cell growth arrest in normal human keratinocyte was more potently induced by ingenol disoxate, which was accompanied by protein kinase C dependent transcription of markers of keratinocyte differentiation. Most notably, ingenol disoxate possessed a superior antitumor effect in a B16 mouse melanoma model and significantly increased median survival time relative to ingenol mebutate. A significant effect on tumor ablation was also observed in a murine model of ultraviolet irradiation-induced skin carcinogenesis.ConclusionThese data illustrate that the favorable in vitro and in vivo pharmacological properties driving ingenol mebutate efficacy are either preserved or improved in ingenol disoxate. In combination with improved chemical stability to potentially facilitate storage of the final product at ambient temperatures, these features support further development of ingenol disoxate as a convenient and efficacious treatment modality of non-melanoma skin cancers.FundingLEO Pharma A/S.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13555-016-0137-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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