Yang Z, Wei D, Dai X, Stevens MFG, Bradshaw TD, Luo Y, Zhang J. C8-Substituted Imidazotetrazine Analogs Overcome Temozolomide Resistance by Inducing DNA Adducts and DNA Damage.
Front Oncol 2019;
9:485. [PMID:
31263673 PMCID:
PMC6584802 DOI:
10.3389/fonc.2019.00485]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2019] [Accepted: 05/22/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Temozolomide (TMZ) is the standard of care chemotherapeutic agent used in the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme. Cytotoxic O6-methylguaine lesions formed by TMZ are repaired by O6-methyl-guanine DNA methyltransferase (MGMT), a DNA repair protein that removes alkyl groups located at the O6-position of guanine. Response to TMZ requires low MGMT expression and functional mismatch repair. Resistance to TMZ conferred by MGMT, and tolerance to O6-methylguanine lesions conferred by deficient MMR severely limit TMZ clinical applications. Therefore, development of new TMZ derivatives that can overcome TMZ-resistance is urgent. In this study, we investigated the anti-tumor mechanism of action of two novel TMZ analogs: C8-imidazolyl (377) and C8-methylimidazole (465) tetrazines. We found that analogs 377 and 465 display good anticancer activity against MGMT-overexpressing glioma T98G and MMR deficient colorectal carcinoma HCT116 cell lines with IC50 value of 62.50, 44.23, 33.09, and 25.37 μM, respectively. Analogs induce cell cycle arrest at G2/M, DNA double strand break damage and apoptosis irrespective of MGMT and MMR status. It was established that analog 377, similar to TMZ, is able to ring-open and hydrolyze under physiological conditions, and its intermediate product is more stable than MTIC. Moreover, DNA adducts of 377 with calf thymus DNA were identified: N7-methylguanine, O6-methylguanine, N3-methyladenine, N3-methylthymine, and N3-methylcytidine deoxynucleotides. We conclude that C8 analogs of TMZ share a mechanism of action similar to TMZ and are able to methylate DNA generating O6-methylguanine adducts, but unlike TMZ are able at least in part to thwart MGMT- and MMR-mediated resistance.
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