In Vivo Antitumor Activity of a Novel Acetazolamide-Cryptophycin Conjugate for the Treatment of Renal Cell Carcinomas.

Traditional chemotherapeutics used in cancer therapy do not preferentially accumulate in tumor tissues. The conjugation to delivery vehicles like antibodies or small molecules has been proposed as a strategy to increase the tumor uptake and improve the therapeutic window of these drugs. Here, we report the synthesis and the biological evaluation of a novel small molecule-drug conjugate (SMDC) comprising a high-affinity bidentate acetazolamide derivative, targeting carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX), and cryptophycin, a potent microtubule destabilizer. The biological activity of the novel SMDC was evaluated in vitro, measuring binding to the CAIX antigen by surface plasmon resonance and cytotoxicity against SKRC-52 cells. In vivo studies showed a delayed growth of tumors in nude mice bearing SKRC-52 renal cell carcinomas.

ACS omega. 2018 Nov 02 [Epub]

Samuele Cazzamalli, Eduard Figueras, Lilla Pethő, Adina Borbély, Christian Steinkühler, Dario Neri, Norbert Sewald

Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zürich), Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 4, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland., Department of Chemistry, Organic and Bioorganic Chemistry, Bielefeld University, Universitätsstraße 25, D-33615 Bielefeld, Germany., Exiris s.r.l., Via Savona 6, I-00182 Rome, Italy.