Analogues of N alpha-(4-amino-4-deoxypteroyl)-N delta-(hemiphthaloyl)-L-ornithine (PT523) with 3',5'-dichloro substitution in the p-aminobenzoyl moiety or with one less or one more CH2 group in the amino acid moiety were synthesized and tested as inhibitors of dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) activity and cell growth. Replacement of L-ornithine in PT523 by L-2,4-diaminobutanoic acid or L-lysine did not decrease binding to human recombinant DHFR but resulted in some loss of activity against SCC25 human and SCC VII murine squamous cell carcinoma and against MCF-7 human breast carcinoma in culture. PT523 was several times more potent than methotrexate (MTX), aminopterin (AMT), or trimetrexate (TMQ). 3',5'-Dichloro substitution did not decrease either DHFR binding or cytotoxicity. A new synthetic route to PT523 from 2,4-diamino-6-(hydroxymethyl)pteridine and methyl N alpha-(4-aminobenzoyl)-N delta-phthaloyl-L-ornithinate was investigated but was not found superior to previously described methods. In comparative experiments on the ability of PT523 and MTX to competitively inhibit the influx of (6R)-5,10-dideazatetra-hydrofolate (DDATHF, lometrexol), used here as a surrogate for MTX and reduced folates, the Ki of PT523 was lower than that of MTX in both wild-type CCRF-CEM human leukemic lymphoblasts and the transport- and polyglutamylation-defective subline CEM/MTX. The CCRF-CEM cells were 10-fold more sensitive to PT523 than to MTX, whereas the CEM/MTX cells were 240-fold more sensitive. However, in contrast to other MTX-resistant cells where collateral sensitivity to PT523 has been seen. CEM/MTX cells still showed substantial cross resistance to PT523 which may reflect an unusual heightened ability to utilize exogenous folic acid. The good correlation observed with both cell lines between the cytotoxicity of PT523 and MTX and the ability to inhibit DDATHF influx supported the view that PT523 and MTX share, at least in part, a common protein carrier for membrane transport.

No abstract

Four heretofore undescribed side chain analogues of N alpha-(4-amino-4-deoxypteroyl)-N delta-hemiphthaloyl-L-ornithine (PT523, 4) were synthesized via straightforward methods of antifolate chemistry, and their properties were compared with those of PT523 and two related compounds with the aim of defining the contribution of the hemiphthaloyl-L-ornithine moiety to the exceptional in vitro antitumor activity of this novel non-polyglutamatable aminopterin analogue. The IC50 values of N alpha-(4-amino-4-deoxypteroyl)-N beta-hemiphthaloyl-L-2,3-diaminopropanoic acid (10) and N alpha-(4-amino-4-deoxypteroyl)-N gamma-hemiphthaloyl-L-2,4- diaminobutanoic acid (9) against A549 human non-small-cell lung carcinoma cells in culture were 23 and 22 nM, whereas those of PT523 and N alpha-(4-amino-4-deoxypteroyl)-N epsilon-hemiphthaloyl-L-lysine (8) were 1.3 and 5.2 nM. A decrease in the in vitro activities of 8 and 9 relative to PT523 was also observed against the panel of cell lines used by the National Cancer Institute to screen new drugs. However the potency of 8 and 9 remained several times greater than that of the historical control methotrexate against many of the cell lines in the screening panel. In an in vivo tumor model, SCC-VII murine squamous cell carcinoma, 9 and methotrexate were well tolerated as 5-day continuous infusions at doses of 0.52 and 0.75 mg/kg/day, whereas the highest tolerated dose of PT523 on this schedule was 0.19 mg/kg/day, in agreement with its lower IC50 in culture. To assess the importance of the hemiphthaloyl group in PT523, N alpha-(4-amino-4-deoxypteroyl)-N delta-isophthaloyl-L-ornithine (11), N alpha-(4-amino-4-deoxypteroyl)-N delta-terephthaloyl-L-ornithine (12), and N alpha-(4-amino-4-deoxypteroyl)-N delta-(4,5-dichlorohemiphthaloyl)-L-ornithine (13) were also synthesized. The IC50 values of 11 and 12 against A549 cells were 45 and 3300 nM, as compared with 1.3 nM for PT523 and 23 nM for methotrexate. In a clonogenic assay against SCC25 human squamous cell carcinoma cells, the IC50 values of 11 and 12 were 2.9 and 72 nM, as compared with 0.3 nM for PT523 and 27 nM for methotrexate. Thus, activity was decreased by moving the aromatic carboxyl group in PT523 to the meta position and was further diminished by moving it to the para position. The IC50 of the halogenated analogue 13 against SCC25 human head and neck squamous carcinoma cells was 18 nM, suggesting lack of tolerance for this 4,5-disubstitution in the phthaloyl moiety. Our results suggest that the combination of a hemiphthaloyl group and three CH2 groups in the side chain are critical determinants of the potent in vitro activity of PT523.

gamma-tert-Butylaminopterin (gamma-tBAMT), the first example of an aminopterin (AMT) gamma-monoester, was synthesized, and new routes to the known N10-methyl analogue gamma-tert-butyl methotrexate (gamma-tBMTX) were developed. The inhibitory effects of gamma-tBAMT on the activity of purified dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) from L1210 murine leukemia cells, the growth of L1210 cells and CEM human leukemic lymphoblasts in suspension culture, and the growth of several lines of human squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck in monolayer culture were compared with the effects of gamma-tBMTX and the parent acids AMT and methotrexate (MTX). Patterns of cross-resistance to gamma-tBAMT, gamma-tBMTX, and AMT among several MTX-resistant cell lines were examined. In vivo antitumor activities of gamma-tBAMT and gamma-tBMTX were compared in mice with L1210 leukemia. While the activity of gamma-tBAMT was very close to that of gamma-tBMTX in the DHFR inhibition assay, the AMT ester was more potent than the MTX ester against cells in culture and against L1210 leukemia in vivo. Only partial cross-resistance was shown against gamma-tBMTX and gamma-tBAMT in cultured cells that were resistant to MTX by virtue of a transport defect or a combination of defective transport and elevated DHFR activity.