The histone deacetylase enzyme has increasingly become an attractive target for developing novel anticancer drugs. Hydroxamates are a new class of anticancer agents reported to act by selective inhibition of the histone deacetylase (HDAC) enzyme. Comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA) were employed to study three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationships (3D-QSARs). QSAR models were derived from a training set of 40 molecules. An external test set consisting of 17 molecules was used to validate the CoMFA and CoMSIA models. All molecules were superimposed on the template structure by atom-based, multifit and the SYBYL QSAR rigid body field fit alignments. The statistical quality of the QSAR models was assessed using the parameters r(2)(conv), r(2)(cv) and r(2)(pred). In addition to steric and electronic fields, ClogP was also taken as descriptor to account for lipophilicity. The resulting models exhibited a good conventional r(2)(conv) and cross-validated r(2)(cv) values up to 0.910 and 0.502 for CoMFA and 0.987 and 0.534 for CoMSIA. Robust cross-validation by 2 groups was performed 25 times to eliminate chance correlation. The CoMFA models exhibited good external predictivity as compared to that of CoMSIA models. These 3D-QSAR models are very useful for design of novel HDAC inhibitors.

Introduction A major barrier to the advancement of therapeutic nanomedicines has been the non-target toxicity caused by the accumulation of the drug delivery systems in organs associated with the reticuloendothelial system, particularly the liver and spleen. Herein, we report the development of peptide based metabolically active linkers (MALs) that are enzymatically cleaved by cysteine cathepsin B and S, two proteases highly expressed in the liver and spleen. The overall goal of this approach is to utilize the MALs to lower the non-target retention and toxicity of radiolabeled drug delivery systems, thus resulting in higher diagnostic and radiotherapeutic efficacy. Methods In this study three MALs (MAL0, MAL1 and MAL2) were investigated. MAL1 and MAL2 are composed of known substrates of cathepsin B and S, respectively, while MAL0 is a non-cleavable control. Both MAL1 and MAL2 were shown to undergo enzymatic cleavage with the appropriate cathepsin protease. Subsequent to conjugation to the HPMA copolymer and radiolabeling with 177Lu, the peptide-polymer conjugates were renamed 177Lu- metabolically active copolymers (177Lu-MACs) with the corresponding designation 177Lu-MAC0, 177Lu-MAC1 and 177Lu-MAC2. Results In vivo evaluation of the 177Lu-MACs was performed in a HPAC human pancreatic cancer xenograft mouse model. 177Lu-MAC1 and 177Lu-MAC2 demonstrated 3.1 and 2.1 fold lower liver retention, respectively, compared to control (177Lu-MAC0) at 72 h post-injection. With regard to spleen retention, 177Lu-MAC1 and 177Lu-MAC2 each exhibited a nearly fourfold lower retention, relative to control, at the 72 h time point. However, the tumor accumulation of the 177Lu-MAC0 was two to three times greater than 177Lu-MAC1 and 177Lu-MAC2 at the same time point. The MAL approach demonstrated the capability of substantially reducing the non-target retention of the 177Lu-labeled HPMA copolymers. Conclusions While further studies are needed to optimize the pharmacokinetics of the 177Lu-MACs design, the ability of the MAL to significantly decrease non-target retention establishes the potential this avenue of research may have for the improvement of diagnostic and radiotherapeutic drug delivery systems.

Introduction Neurotensin receptor 1 (NTR1) is overexpressed in many cancers types. Neurotensin (NT), a 13 amino acid peptide, is the native ligand for NTR1 and exhibits high (nM) affinity to the receptor. Many laboratories have been investigating the development of diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals for NTR1-positive cancers based on the NT peptide. To improve the biological performance for targeting NTR1, we proposed NT analogs with 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid (DOTA) chelation system and different lengths of spacers. Methods We synthesized four NTR1-targeted conjugates with spacer lengths from 0 to 9 atoms (null (N0), β-Ala-OH (N1), 5-Ava-OH (N2), and 8-Aoc-OH (N3)) between the DOTA and the pharmacophore. In vitro competitive binding, internalization and efflux studies were performed on all four NT analogs. Based on these findings, metabolism studies were carried out on our best performing conjugate, 177Lu-N1. Lastly, in vivo biodistribution and SPECT/CT imaging studies were performed using 177Lu-N1 in an HT-29 xenograft mouse model. Results As shown in competitive binding assay, the NT analogs with different spacers (N1, N2 and N3) exhibited lower IC50 values than the NT analog without a spacer (N0). Furthermore, N1 revealed higher retention in HT-29 cells with more rapid internalization and slower efflux than the other NT analogs. In vivo biodistribution and SPECT/CT imaging studies of 177Lu-N1 demonstrated excellent accumulation (3.1 ± 0.4 %ID/g) in the NTR1-positive tumors at 4 h post-administration. Conclusions The DOTA chelation system demonstrated some modest steric inhibition of the pharmacophore. However, the insertion of a 4-atom hydrocarbon spacer group restored optimal binding affinity of the analog. The in vivo assays indicated that 177Lu-N1 could be used for imaging and radiotherapy of NTR1-positive tumors.