Structure elucidation and quantification of the reduction products of anticancer Pt(iv) prodrugs by electrochemistry/mass spectrometry (EC-MS)

trans-Platinum(iv) pro-drugs that exhibit unusual resistance to reduction by endogenous reductants and blood serum but are rapidly activated inside cells: 1H NMR and XANES spectroscopy study

Recent results have confirmed that protection of transplatin from reactions on the path to cancer cells substantially increases their activity, suggesting that such complexes have greater potential than previously thought. In this study we have investigated the use of the platinum(iv) oxidation state and the tetracarboxylate coordination sphere to determine whether these features could impart the same stability to trans-diammineplatinum complexes that they do to cis-diam(m)ineplatinum complexes. The cis complexes exhibit resistance to reduction by l-ascorbate and human blood serum, but are readily reduced inside cancer cells. Studies of reduction monitored by 1H NMR revealed that oxidation of trans-diammineplatinum(ii) complexes does not always result in significant stabilisation, but the complexes trans, trans, trans-[Pt(OAc)4(NH3)2] (OAc = acetate) and trans, trans, trans-[Pt(OPr)2(OAc)2(NH3)2] (OPr = propionate) exhibit second order half-lives of 33 h and 5.9 days respectively in the presence of a ten-fold excess of l-ascorbate. XANES spectroscopy studies of reduction in blood models showed that trans, trans, trans-[Pt(OAc)4(NH3)2] is stable in blood serum for at least 24 hours, but is reduced rapidly in whole blood and was observed to have a half-life of approximately 4 hours in DLD-1 colon cancer cells. Consequently, the tetracarboxylatoplatinum(iv) moiety has the properties required to enable the delivery of trans-diammine platinum complexes to cancer cells.

Investigations of the Kinetics and Mechanism of Reduction of a Carboplatin Pt(IV) Prodrug by the Major Small-Molecule Reductants in Human Plasma

The development of Pt(IV) anticancer prodrugs to overcome the detrimental side effects of Pt(II)-based anticancer drugs is of current interest. The kinetics and reaction mechanisms of the reductive activation of the carboplatin Pt(IV) prodrug cis,trans-[Pt(cbdca)(NH₃)₂Cl₂] (cbdca = cyclobutane-1,1-dicarboxylate) by the major small-molecule reductants in human plasma were analyzed in this work. The reductants included ascorbate (Asc), the thiol-containing molecules L-cysteine (Cys), DL-homocysteine (Hcy), and glutathione (GSH), and the dipeptide Cys–Gly. Overall second-order kinetics were established in all cases. At the physiological pH of 7.4, the observed second-order rate constants k′ followed the order Asc << Cys–Gly ~ Hcy < GSH < Cys. This reactivity order together with the abundances of the reductants in human plasma indicated Cys as the major small-molecule reductant in vivo, followed by GSH and ascorbate, whereas Hcy is much less important. In the cases of Cys and GSH, detailed reaction mechanisms and the reactivity of the various protolytic species at physiological pH were derived. The rate constants of the rate-determining steps were evaluated, allowing the construction of reactivity-versus-pH distribution diagrams for Cys and GSH. The diagrams unraveled that species III of Cys (⁻SCH₂CH(NH₃⁺)COO⁻) and species IV of GSH (⁻OOCCH(NH₃⁺)CH₂CH₂CONHCH(CH₂S⁻)- CONHCH₂COO⁻) were exclusively dominant in the reduction process. These two species are anticipated to be of pivotal importance in the reduction of other types of Pt(IV) prodrugs as well.