The major concern for anticancer chemotherapeutic agents is the host toxicity. The development of anticancer prodrugs targeting the unique biochemical alterations in cancer cells is an attractive approach to achieve therapeutic activity and selectivity. We designed and synthesized a new types of arylboronic ester prodrug that can be activated by high level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) found in cancer cells to form quinone methide (QM) intermediates and release the chemotherapy agent simultaneously. The activation mechanism was determined by NMR analysis. The activity and selectivity of these prodrugs towards ROS was determined by measuring DNA interstrand crosslinks and/or DNA alkylations. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example of H2O2-activated anticancer prodrugs.

H2O2-inducible DNA cross-linking agents: Targeted anticancer prodrugs

243rd National Meeting (2012)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.