The successful search for orally
active iron chelators to treat
transfusional iron-overload diseases, e.g., thalassemia, is overviewed.
The critical role of iron in nature as a redox engine is first described,
as well as how primitive life forms and humans manage the metal. The
problems that derive when iron homeostasis in humans is disrupted
and the mechanism of the ensuing damage, uncontrolled Fenton chemistry,
are discussed. The solution to the problem, chelator-mediated iron
removal, is clear. Design options for the assembly of ligands that
sequester and decorporate iron are reviewed, along with the shortcomings
of the currently available therapeutics. The rationale for choosing
desferrithiocin, a natural product iron chelator (a siderophore),
as a platform for structure–activity relationship studies in
the search for an orally active iron chelator is thoroughly developed.
The study provides an excellent example of how to systematically reengineer
a pharmacophore in order to overcome toxicological problems while
maintaining iron clearing efficacy and has led to three ligands being
evaluated in human clinical trials.