5-(Halomethyl)uridine derivatives as potential antitumor radiosensitizers: A DFT study

Nitro rotation tuned dissociative electron attachment upon targeted radiosensitizer 4-substituted Z bases

In this work, a set of new potential radiation sensitizers (4-substituted Z-bases: 4XZ, X = F, Cl, Br, and I) are designed based on the artificial 6-amino-5-nitro-3-(1'-β-D-2'-deoxyribofuranosyl)-2(1H)-pyridone (Z), which can selectively bind to breast cancer cells. The calculated electron affinities in water solution show that the halogenated Z-bases are efficient electron acceptors which possess significant electron-withdrawing characters following the order of 4XZ > Z ≫ U. To ensure the effective electron attachment induced dissociation, we constructed the energy profiles related to the X-C bond cleavage of neutral and anionic bases. The results show that the X-C bond becomes relatively weak after the electron attachment. In particular, the electron induced dehalogenations of (4BrZ)^- and (4IZ)^- are low-barrier and exothermic, which support a high radiosensitivity. Furthermore, we characterized the vibrational excitation effect on the dissociative electron attachment, which demonstrates that the charge distribution can be regulated by the rotation-induced structural distortion accompanied by the electron localization on the nitro group. Also examined is the influence of base pairing on the dehalogenation, which is not only conducive to the electron-driven dissociation but is also beneficial to the stabilization of related products. The current study suggests 4BrZ and 4IZ can be regarded as potential targeted radiosensitizers with possible applications in reducing the side effects in radiotherapy.

5-(N-Trifluoromethylcarboxy)aminouracil as a Potential DNA Radiosensitizer and Its Radiochemical Conversion into N-Uracil-5-yloxamic Acid

Hypoxia-a hallmark of solid tumors-dramatically impairs radiotherapy, one of the most common anticancer modalities. The adverse effect of the low-oxygen state can be eliminated by the concomitant use of a hypoxic cell radiosensitizer. In the present paper, we show that 5-(N-trifluoromethylcarboxy) aminouracil (CF3CONHU) can be considered as an effective radiosensitizer of DNA damage, working under hypoxia. The title compound was synthesized in the reaction of 5-aminouracil and trifluoroacetic anhydride in trifluoroacetic acid. Then, an aqueous and deoxygenated solution of the HPLC purified compound containing tert-butanol as a hydroxyl radical scavenger was irradiated with X-rays. Radiodegradation in a 26.67 ± 0.31% yield resulted in only one major product-N-uracil-5-yloxamic acid. The mechanism that is possibly responsible for the formation of the observed radioproduct has been elucidated with the use of DFT calculations. The cytotoxic test against the PC3 prostate cancer cell line and HDFa human dermal fibroblasts confirmed the low cytotoxicity of CF3CONHU. Finally, a clonogenic assay and flow cytometric analysis of histone H2A.X phosphorylation proved the radiosensitization in vitro.