cytovaricin and apoptolidin

[figure: see text] We describe a semi-synthetic deglycosylated derivative of apoptolidin that retains considerable activity against the mitochondrial ATPase but has greatly reduced cellular cytotoxicity. We also demonstrate that a related antifungal natural product, cytovaricin, inhibits the same molecular target. Structural comparison of these macrolides provides insights into their conserved features that are presumably important for biological activity and identifies promising avenues at the interface of organic synthesis and biosynthesis for the generation of new selective cytotoxic agents.

Topics: Anti-Bacterial Agents; Antibiotics, Antineoplastic; Antifungal Agents; Bacteria; Biological Products; Enzyme Inhibitors; Macrolides; Molecular Structure; Oligomycins; Proton-Translocating ATPases; Structure-Activity Relationship; Yeasts

Recently, a family of polyketide inhibitors of F(0)F(1)-ATPase, including apoptolidin, ossamycin, and oligomycin, were shown to be among the top 0.1% most cell line selective cytotoxic agents of 37, 000 molecules tested against the 60 human cancer cell lines of the National Cancer Institute. Many cancer cells maintain a high level of anaerobic carbon metabolism even in the presence of oxygen, a phenomenon that is historically known as the Warburg effect. A mechanism-based strategy to sensitize such cells to this class of potent small molecule cytotoxic agents is presented. These natural products inhibit oxidative phosphorylation by targeting the mitochondrial F(0)F(1) ATP synthase. Evaluation of gene expression profiles in a panel of leukemias revealed a strong correlation between the expression level of the gene encoding subunit 6 of the mitochondrial F(0)F(1) ATP synthase (known to be the binding site of members of this class of macrolides) and their sensitivity to these natural products. Within the same set of leukemia cell lines, comparably strong drug-gene correlations were also observed for the genes encoding two key enzymes involved in central carbon metabolism, pyruvate kinase, and aspartate aminotransferase. We propose a simple model in which the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway is activated in response to a shift in balance between aerobic and anaerobic ATP biosynthesis. Inhibitors of both lactate formation and carbon flux through the Embden-Meyerhof pathway significantly sensitized apoptolidin-resistant tumors to this drug. Nine different cell lines derived from human leukemias and melanomas, and colon, renal, central nervous system, and ovarian tumors are also sensitized to killing by apoptolidin.

Topics: Anti-Bacterial Agents; Antibiotics, Antineoplastic; DNA-Binding Proteins; HT29 Cells; Humans; Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1; Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit; Macrolides; Molecular Structure; Nuclear Proteins; Oligomycins; Proton-Translocating ATPases; Transcription Factors; Tumor Cells, Cultured