Bisphosphonate derivatives of nucleoside antimetabolites: Hydrolytic stability and hydroxyapatite adsorption of 5′-β,γ-methylene and 5′-β,γ-(1-hydroxyethylidene) triphosphates of 5-fluorouridine and ara-cytidine

Ora, Mikko,Loennberg, Tuomas,Florea-Wang, Diana,Zinnen, Shawn,Karpeisky, Alexander,Loennberg, Harri

, p. 4123 - 4130 (2008/09/21)

(Chemical Equation Presented) Kinetics of the hydrolytic reactions of four bisphosphonate derivatives of nucleoside antimetabolites, viz., 5-fluorouridine 5′-β,γ-(1-hydroxyethylidene) triphosphate (4), 5-fluorouridine 5′-β,γ-methylene triphosphate (5), ara-cytidine 5′-β,γ-(1-hydroxyethylidene) triphosphate (6), and ara-cytidine 5′-β,γ-methylene triphosphate (7), have been studied over a wide pH range (pH 1.0-8.5) at 90°C. With each compound, the disappearance of the starting material was accompanied by formation of the corresponding nucleoside 5′-monophosphate, the reaction being up to 2 orders of magnitude faster with the β,γ-(1-hydroxyethylidene) derivatives (4, 6) than with their β,γ-methylene counterparts (5, 7). With compound 7, deamination of the cytosine base competed with the phosphate hydrolysis at pH 3-6. The measurements at 37°C (pH 7.4) in the absence and presence of divalent alkaline earth metal ions (Mg2+ and Ca2+) showed no sign of metal ion catalysis. Under these conditions, the initial product, nucleoside 5′-monophosphate, underwent rapid dephosphorylation to the corresponding nucleoside. Hydrolysis of the β,γ-methylene derivatives (5, 7) to the corresponding nucleoside 5′-monophosphates was markedly faster in mouse serum than in aqueous buffer (pH 7.4), the rate-acceleration being 5600- and 3150-fold with 5 and 7, respectively. In human serum, the accelerations were 800- and 450-fold compared to buffer. In striking contrast, the β,γ-(1-hydroxyethylidene) derivatives did not experience a similar decrease in hydrolytic stability. The stability in human serum was comparable to that in aqueous buffer (τ1/2 = 17 and 33 h with 4 and 6, respectively), and on going to mouse serum, a 2- to 4-fold acceleration was observed. To elucidate the mineral-binding properties of 4-7, their retention on a hydroxyapatite column was studied and compared to that of zoledronate (1a) and nucleoside mono-, di-, and triphosphates.