ABSTRACT:An investigation was conducted to follow up on the apparent speciesdependent toxicity reported for 6-(6- was generated by monkey and human liver S-9, and to a lesser extent by rat S-9, whereas M11 was absent in dog S-9 incubations. We confirmed the identity of M11 as 2-quinolinone-SGX523. Experiments with various molybdenum hydroxylase inhibitors showed that aldehyde oxidase (AO), and not xanthine oxidase, metabolized SGX523 to M11 in monkey and human liver cytosol. In addition, the oxygen incorporated into M11 was derived from water rather than atmospheric oxygen, corroborating M11 formation via AO. After oral dosing in monkeys, metabolite profiling of plasma and urine showed that SGX523 was indeed metabolized to M11 and its N-demethyl analog (M8). In urine, M11 levels were ϳ70-fold greater than that of SGX523, and the solubility of M11 in urine was only 3% of that of SGX523. In summary, SGX523 is metabolized by AO in a species-specific manner to a markedly less-soluble metabolite, M11. We propose that M11 is likely involved in the observed obstructive nephropathy reported in clinical studies. Moreover, this study illustrates the need to conduct thorough metabolic evaluations early in drug development to select the most relevant nonclinical species for toxicological evaluation.(There has been much effort during the past several years to develop targeted therapy for oncological indications to improve efficacy and tolerability. One compelling therapeutic target is mesenchymal-epithelial transition factor (c-MET), a receptor tyrosine kinase implicated in the control of multiple signal transduction pathways involved in tumor growth and metastasis (Liu et al., 2008). 6-(6-(1-Methyl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)-[1,2,4]triazolo [4,3-b]pyridazin-3-ylthio)quinoline (SGX523) is an orally bioavailable, potent, and selective small molecule inhibitor of c-MET, and this compound was one of the first selective c-MET inhibitors to be evaluated in patients (Buchanan et al., 2009). Because the microsomal metabolism profile of SGX523 was similar among rats, dogs, monkeys, and humans, investigational new drug-enabling studies were conducted in rats and dogs (Burley, 2009). The SGX523 Phase I study was started at a dose of 40 mg in patients. After escalating to doses Ͼ80 mg of SGX523 in patients, acute renal failure was observed as evidenced by increased serum creatinine. The analysis of samples from the discontinued clinical trial revealed a metabolism profile different from that of the preclinical species studied. Subsequent in vivo studies using monkeys showed obstructive nephropathy with intratubular crystal formation, consistent with human data, but the mechanism involved in the toxicity has not been reported (Burley, 2009). In an effort to better understand this apparent species difference in metabolism and the consequent development of drug-induced crystal nephropathy in a species-specific manner, we prepared SGX523 and studied its metabolite profile.
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