Iridium complex with antiangiogenic properties

Article abstract of DOI:10.1002/anie.201000682

(Figure Presented) Identified as nanomolar and selective Inhibitor of receptor protein kinase VEG FR3 (Flt4), the nontoxic and octahedrally coordinated Ir^III complex 1 was synthesized by a stereoselective oxidative addition to a square-planar coordinated Ir^I precursor. The arrows in the image indicate positions at which the blood vessel formation in a zebrafish model of angiogenesis has been hampered by 1.

Full text of DOI:10.1002/anie.201000682

Angewandte
Chemie
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201000682
Bioorganometallic Chemistry
Iridium Complex with Antiangiogenic Properties**
Alexander Wilbuer, Danielle H. Vlecken, Daan J. Schmitz, Katja Krꢀling, Klaus Harms,
Christoph P. Bagowski, and Eric Meggers*
Substitutionally inert metal complexes are promising emerg-
ing scaffolds for targeting enzyme active sites.[1] Over the last
several years, our research group has demonstrated that inert
ruthenium(II) complexes can serve as highly selective nano-
molar and even picomolar inhibitors of protein kinases.[2]
Octahedral metal coordination geometries in particular
offer new gateways to design rigid, globular molecules with
defined shapes that can fill protein pockets such as enzyme
active sites in a unique fashion (Figure 1).[3] However, the
Although most of our previous efforts were focused on
ruthenium(II) complexes, we envisioned that octahedral
iridium(III) complexes might be attractive scaffolds for two
reasons: First, coordinative bonds with IrIII tend to be very
inert[5] and therefore IrIII complexes should be able to serve as
stable scaffolds for the design of enzyme inhibitors.[6,7]
Second, octahedral IrIII complexes can be accessed from
square-planar IrI complexes by stereoselective oxidative
addition reactions.[8] This factor provides a powerful tool to
control the stereochemistry of octahedral IrIII complexes.
Herein, we present the discovery of a bioactive octahedral
iridium(III) complex, synthesized through oxidative addition
as the key synthetic step. The organometallic compound
functions as a nanomolar and selective inhibitor of the protein
kinase Flt4 (Fms-related tyrosine kinase 4), also known as
VEGFR3 (vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 3).[9]
Flt4 is involved in angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis[9] and
we demonstrate that this nontoxic organoiridium compound
can indeed interfere with the development of blood vessels in
vivo in two different zebrafish angiogenesis models.
We started with investigating the synthesis of iridium
complexes containing our recently developed pyridocarba-
zole pharmacophore bidentate ligand that targets the com-
plexes to the ATP-binding site of protein kinases (Figure 1).
For initial studies we used pyridocarbazoles 1a–c bearing
different substituents R at the maleimide nitrogen atom (a:
Bn, b: TBS, c: CH3). Accordingly, heterocycles 1a–c were
treated with [{IrCl(cod)}2] in MeCN/MeOH (2:1) in the
presence of K2CO3 to afford the iridium(I) complexes 2a–c in
high yields (90–95%, Scheme 1). These slightly air-sensitive
square-planar complexes efficiently undergo oxidative addi-
tion. For example, the reaction of 2a,b with freshly distilled
CH3I in the dark provided the stable octahedral complexes
3a,b stereoselectively as the trans oxidative addition products
(89% and 92%, respectively).[10] Similarly, the treatment of
2a–c with I2 afforded the octahedral complexes 4a–c (73–
92%), whereas the reaction of 2b with first (trifluorome-
thyl)dibenzothiophenium tetrafluoroborate[11] followed by
TBAC, afforded the complex 5 (29%) containing a stable
Figure 1. Illustration of an octahedral pyridocarbazole metal complex
bound to the active site of a protein kinase. The coordinating
ligands A–D are capable of controlling kinase affinities and selectiv-
ities, if arranged properly.
large number of possible stereoisomers does not only provide
new structural opportunities (e.g. the complex illustrated in
Figure 1 can form up to 24 stereoisomers if the ligands A–D
differ), but also poses a formidable challenge because of the
limited ability to control the stereochemistry in the course of
ligand exchange reactions.[4] A continued progress in this area
of inorganic medicinal chemistry therefore requires the
development of strategies for the stereocontrolled synthesis
of octahedrally coordinated metal complexes.
À
Ir CF3 bond. A crystal structure of complex 4a is shown in
[*] A. Wilbuer, K. Krꢀling, Dr. K. Harms, Prof. Dr. E. Meggers
Fachbereich Chemie, Philipps-Universitꢀt Marburg
Hans-Meerwein-Strasse, 35032 Marburg (Germany)
Fax: (+49)6421-282-2189
Figure 2 and reveals the trans coordination of iodine. Impor-
tantly, the iodide ligands in 4a can further be subjected to
substitution chemistry, as exemplified by the conversion into
the dichloride complex 6 upon treatment with TBAC (88%).
Encouraged by these results, we synthesized in an analogous
fashion a small library of iridium complexes 7–11 bearing
unprotected maleimide moieties. The free maleimide nitro-
gen atoms are essential for being capable of forming two
canonical hydrogen bonds with the hinge region of the ATP-
binding site of protein kinases (Scheme 1).
E-mail: meggers@chemie.uni-marburg.de
D. H. Vlecken, D. J. Schmitz, Prof. Dr. C. P. Bagowski
Institute of Biology, Leiden University
Wassenaarseweg 64, 2333 AL Leiden (The Netherlands)
[**] Financial support was provided by the DFG (FOR630).
Supporting information for this article is available on the WWW
under http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.201000682.
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and 10 mm of ATP only 12 out of 263 kinases showed activities
below 25% (see the Supporting Information). Intriguingly,
the receptor tyrosine kinase Flt4, which was not selectively
inhibited by any of the previously reported ruthenium
scaffolds,[1,2] displayed under these conditions only an activity
of 2%. We therefore chose Flt4 for further studies and tested
the small library of iridium compounds 7–11 against this
kinase by determining the concentrations of 7–11 at which
Flt4 kinase activity was lowered to 50% (the IC50 value) at an
ATP concentration of 100 mm. As expected, ligands X and Y
of compounds 7–11 (Scheme 1) turned out to have a profound
effect on the inhibition properties. Whereas compound 8
displayed an IC50 value of (211 Æ 23) nm, the more hydro-
phobic dimethyl derivative 10 had a significantly lower
potency (IC50 = 1007 Æ 129 nm). Replacing the CH3 group in
8 by a CF3 group also lowered affinity with an IC50 value of
(369 Æ 68) nm for 11. Furthermore, as seen for compound 9,
substituting the chloride group for a selenocyanate group
decreased the inhibition potency slightly compared to com-
plex 8 (IC50 = (326 Æ 52) nm for complex 9). However, com-
plex 7 with X = Y= Cl showed a significantly improved
activity with an IC50 value of (123 Æ 14) nm, thus being almost
an order of magnitude more potent against Flt4 than the
related dimethyl derivative 10. From these data it becomes
apparent that the ligands X and Y have a profound effect on
the kinase inhibition properties with the small library of
organoiridium complexes 7–11 already spanning across an
activity range of almost one order of magnitude. This
observation is consistent with previous studies of organome-
tallic protein kinase inhibitors which revealed the importance
of the ligand pointing towards the glycine-rich loop for kinase
inhibition (ligand A in Figure 1).[12] Our results thus demon-
strate that oxidative addition provides a convenient synthetic
tool to quickly scan ligands in the positions perpendicular to
the pyridocarbazole moiety (ligands A and D in Figure 1),
which to our opinion is a unique feature of this iridium
scaffold.
Scheme 1. Synthesis of octahedral iridium complexes used in this
study through oxidative addition as the key step. Reagents and
conditions: a) TBAC, THF, 79% of 8; b) KSeCN, DMF, 83% of 9;
c) MeMgBr, CuI, THF, 63%; then TBAF, CH2Cl2, 73% of 10; d) TBAC,
THF, 88% of 6, 59% of 7, and 71% of 12; e) TBAC, THF, microwave
(708C, 17 min, 20 watts), 50% of 11. Bn=benzyl, cod=cycloocta-l,5-
diene, DMF=N,N-dimethylformamide, TBAC=tetrabutyl ammonium
chloride, TBS=tert-butyldimethylsilyl, THF=tetrahydrofuran.
For the purpose of designing molecular probes for
chemical biology, the selectivity of a compound is one of its
most important single features. This is especially a challenge
for members of large enzyme families such as protein kinases
with more than 500 putative protein kinase genes encoded in
the human genome. Nevertheless, iridium complex 7 displays
a remarkable degree of selectivity for Flt4 over other protein
kinases. Figure 3 shows the results of a screening of complex 7
against a panel of 229 human wild-type protein kinases at a
concentration of 100 nm (10 mm ATP). Out of the 229 protein
kinases, 224 kinases remained an activity of more than 50%,
including other members of the VEGFR family such as
VEGFR1 (also known as Flt1, 62% activity at 100 nm 7,
10 mm ATP) and VEGFR2 (also known as KDR, 95% activity
at 100 nm 7, 10 mm ATP). On the other hand, only 5 kinases,
including Flt4, were inhibited by more than 50% under these
conditions. The IC50 measurements with some of these kinases
at the biologically more relevant concentration of 250 mm
ATP confirmed the exquisite selectivity of 7 for Flt4: Pim1
(IC50 = 560 Æ 8 nm) and GSK3 (measured for the more potent
a-isoform: IC50 = 338 Æ 42 nm) are inhibited with potencies
which are lower compared to the inhibition of Flt4 by 7
Figure 2. ORTEP representation (50% thermal ellipsoids) of the crystal
structure of complex 4a. Selected bond lengths [ꢁ]: N1–Ir1 2.070(6),
N4–Ir1 2.122(6), C28–Ir1 2.240(8), C29–Ir1 2.251(7), C32–Ir1 2.222(7),
C33–Ir1 2.252(7), I1–Ir1 2.733(6), I2–Ir1 2.714(6). Selected bond
angles [8]: N1-Ir1-I2 82.29(16), N4-Ir1-I2 81.44(16), N1-Ir1-I1 80.42(16),
N4-Ir1-I1 81.15(16), I2-Ir1-I1 157.12(2).
To quickly evaluate the kinase inhibition properties of this
class of iridium complexes, we selected compound 8 as a
representative member and screened it against a panel of
protein kinases. As a result, at a concentration of 1 mm of 8
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Table 1: Inhibition of angiogenesis and tumor-cell-induced neovascula-
rization in developing zebrafish embryos.[a]
Compounds
(amount)
Inhibition of angiogenesis
(% defects/% survival)[b]
Tumor-induced
neovascularization
(% positive)[c]
DMSO
0/91Æ2
78Æ4
75Æ3
36Æ1
28Æ3
12 (5 mm)
7 (1 mm)
7 (5 mm)
0/86Æ5
79Æ5/90Æ2
100Æ0/91Æ3
[a] See the Supporting Information for experimental details. [b] Given are
the percentages of embryos with defects in dorsal longitudinal
anastomic vessels, intersegmental vessels or/and subintestinal veins
formation after 72 hours postfertilization. Percentages of surviving
embryos under the experimental conditions are also indicated. Three
independent experiments were performed with 100 embryos each. No
phenotypic differences were observed for the solvent control and the N-
methylated compound compared to untreated embryos. [c] Given are the
percentages of embryos with induced vessel formation at 24 hours
postinjection of tumor cells. Two independent experiments were
performed and 80 embryos were investigated for each concentration
and compound. Nontransplanted zebrafish embryos do not show a
similar formation of microvasculature from the subintestinal veins.
Figure 3. Selectivity profile of iridium compound 7 in a panel of 229
human wild-type protein kinases. Determined by Millipore (KinasePro-
filer) at a concentration of 10 mm ATP. Remaining activities are mean
values from duplicate measurements. Selectivity comparison within
the VEGFR family (remaining activities at 100 nm 7): Flt1(VEGFR1)
62%, KDR(VEGFR2) 95%, Flt4(VEGFR3) 32%. Protein kinases which
were inhibited by more than 50% at 100 nm 7 are Flt4, Pim1, GSK3a,
GSK3b, and MKK7b.
(IC50 = 125 Æ 23 nm at 250 mm ATP). Thus, it can be concluded
that the high selectivity of the organometallic complex 7
renders it a promising tool for investigating biological
processes related to Flt4.
The receptor tyrosine kinase Flt4 plays essential roles in
the development and maintenance of lymphatic vessels as
well as in the development of the embryonic cardiovascular
system.[9] In early mouse embryos it has been shown that a
targeted inactivation of the Flt4 gene results in the formation
of defective blood vessels.[13] Similarly, it has been demon-
strated that Flt4 signaling is required for vasculogenesis and
angiogenesis in the developing zebrafish.[14] We therefore
tested the effect of complex 7 on angiogenesis and tumor-
induced neovascularization in two zebrafish models.[15]
Accordingly, transgenic zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos in
which the vascular system exhibits green fluorescence
because of the expression of the green fluorescent protein
(GFP) under an early endothelial promoter, were exposed to
the organometallic compound 7. The subsequent analysis with
confocal fluorescence microscopy demonstrated that com-
pound 7 strongly inhibits vessel formation with 79% and
100% of the zebrafish embryos being affected 3 days
postfertilization at concentrations of 1 mm and 5 mm, respec-
tively (Table 1 and Figure 4).
The induction of new blood vessels is an important
process in tumor progression and we therefore evaluated the
inhibitory effect of compound 7 on tumor-cell-induced angio-
genesis, and we used an in vivo tumor xenograft angiogenesis
assay in zebrafish embryos.[16,17] This neovascularization assay
allows us to follow the induction of blood vessel formation by
xenotransplanted proangiogenic human cancer cells, in this
study transplanted human pancreatic tumor cells (PaTu-
8998T cells), in real-time in living zebrafish and enables the
quantification of neovascularization in vivo and in high
resolution. Revealingly, our results show inhibitory effects
of 7 on tumor-cell-induced angiogenesis. For example, com-
Figure 4. Effect of iridium compound 7 on angiogenesis and tumor-
cell-induced neovascularization in transgenic zebrafish embryos exhib-
iting a green fluorescent vascular system. a,b) Angiogenesis assay:
Examples of laser scanning confocal microscopy images shown at
3 days postfertilization of zebrafish embryos treated with (a) DMSO or
(b) compound 7 at 5 mm. Vessel defects are marked with white arrows.
c,d) Tumor xenotransplantation angiogenesis assay: Embryos were
transplanted with human pancreatic cancer cells (red fluorescent as a
result of CM-Dil staining) and treated with (c) DMSO control or (d)
compound 7 at 5 mm and images were taken by dual-laser scanning
confocal microscopy at 24 hours posttransplantation. The outgrowth
of the subintestinal vein in the control experiment is marked with two
white arrows and suppressed in the presence of compound 7.
pound 7, when added to the water containing the zebrafish
embryos at two nonlethal concentrations, strongly inhibited
the induction of new microvasculature in the zebrafish
neovascularization assay (Table 1). Figure 4 illustrates the
effect of compound 7: Whereas zebrafish embryos treated
with DMSO show the typical tumor-cell-induced outgrowth
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[2] For a recent account, see: E. Meggers, G. E. Atilla-Gokcumen,
H. Bregman, J. Maksimoska, S. P. Mulcahy, N. Pagano, D. S.
Williams, Synlett 2007, 1177 – 1189.
[3] J. Maksimoska, L. Feng, K. Harms, C. Yi, J. Kissil, R.
Marmorstein, E. Meggers, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130,
15764 – 15765.
[4] Even the trans effect, which is frequently exploited for the
synthesis of square-planar complexes, is more complicated in
octahedral metal complexes and has been used to control the
stereochemistry the ligand exchange reactions only occasionally.
See, for example: B. J. Coe, S. J. Glenwright, Coord. Chem. Rev.
2000, 203, 5 – 80.
[5] J. Burgess, Inorg. React. Mech. 1972, 2, 140 – 195.
[6] Inert luminescent IrIII complexes have been used as luminescent
bioprobes. See, for example: a) T.-H. Kwon, J. Kwon, J.-I. Hong,
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130, 3726 – 3727; b) M. Yu, Q. Zhao, L.
Shi, F. Li, Z. Zhou, H. Yang, T. Yia, C. Huang, Chem. Commun.
2008, 2115 – 2117; c) K. K.-W. Lo, P.-K. Lee, J. S.-Y. Lau,
Organometallics 2008, 27, 2998 – 3006.
of the subintestinal vein (marked with two arrows in
Figure 4c), the formation of new blood vessels is suppressed
successfully in the presence of 5 mm of iridium compound 7
(Figure 4d).
Taken together, these data show that compound 7 has
antiangiogenic properties in vivo and inhibits both, angio-
genesis in developing zebrafish embryos as well as tumor-cell-
induced angiogenesis. Importantly, the related organometallic
complex 12 (Scheme 1), having an identical coordination
sphere around the iridium(III) center but lacking the ability
to inhibit protein kinases effectively because of a methylated
maleimide moiety (Flt4: IC50 = 1520 Æ 280 nm at 100 mm
ATP), does not show any effects at similar concentrations in
these two zebrafish assays (Table 1). This pronounced differ-
ence in bioactivities between the organometallic compounds
7 and 12 strongly suggests that it is the inhibition of protein
kinases, most likely Flt4, which is responsible for the in vivo
bioactivity of the organometallic compound 7.
[7] For bioactive IrIII complexes, see: a) M. A. Scharwitz, I. Ott, R.
Gust, A. Kromm, W. S. Sheldrick, J. Inorg. Biochem. 2008, 102,
1623 – 1630; b) M. Dobroschke, Y. Geldmacher, I. Ott, M.
Harlos, L. Kater, L. Wagner, R. Gust, W. S. Sheldrick, A.
Prokop, ChemMedChem 2009, 4, 177 – 187; c) M. Ali Nazif, J.-A.
Bangert, I. Ott, R. Gust, R. Stoll, W. S. Sheldrick, J. Inorg.
Biochem. 2009, 103, 1405 – 1414.
Organometallic compounds are traditionally disregarded
as molecular scaffolds for the design of druglike molecules or
molecular probes owing to the fear of toxicity resulting from
an incompatibility of metal–carbon bonds with the biological
environment. However, as shown in Table 1, the organo-
[8] J. U. Mondal, D. M. Blake, Coord. Chem. Rev. 1982, 47, 206 –
238.
À
iridium Flt4 inhibitor 7, containing multiple Ir C bonds, does
not affect the survival of the zebrafish embryos. Furthermore,
cellular proliferation experiments with Hela cells confirm the
low cytotoxicity of 7 with HeLa cells not being affected
significantly in the presence of 1 mm 7 over 24 hours (see the
Supporting Information).
[9] M. J. Karkkainen, T. V. Petrova, Oncogene 2000, 19, 5598 – 5605.
[10] For related oxidative addition reactions with [Ir(bpy)(cod)]+
(bpy = 2,2’-bipyridine), see for example: G. Mestroni, A.
Camus, G. Zassinovich, J. Organomet. Chem. 1974, 73, 119 – 127.
[11] T. Umemoto, S. Ishihara, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1993, 115, 2156 –
2164.
In conclusion, we here reported the first example of a
protein kinase inhibitor based on an octahedral iridium
complex scaffold, synthetically accessed in a stereoselective
fashion through oxidative addition. The high in vitro selec-
tivity, presumable as a result of the overall scaffold rigidity,
combined with a lacking cytotoxicity and the distinct in vivo
biological activity in two zebrafish model systems indicates
that organoiridium complexes such as 7, containing an
octahedral metal center and multiple metal–carbon bonds,
are falsely ignored as scaffolds for the development of enzyme
inhibitors.
[12] H. Bregman, P. J. Carroll, E. Meggers, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2006,
128, 877 – 884.
[13] D. J. Dumont, L. Jussila, J. Taipale, A. Lymboussaki, T.
Mustonen, K. Pajusola, M. Breitman, K. Alitalo, Science 1998,
282, 946 – 949.
[14] E. A. Ober, B. Olofsson, T. Mꢀkinen, S.-W. Jin, W. Shoji, G. Y.
Koh, K. Alitalo, D. Y. R. Stainier, EMBO Rep. 2004, 5, 78 – 84.
[15] For recent examples of metal complexes with antiangiogenic
properties, see: a) A. Vacca, M. Bruno, A. Boccarelli, M.
Coluccia, D. Ribatti, A. Bergamo, S. Garbisa, L. Sartor, G.
Sava, Br. J. Cancer 2002, 86, 993 – 998; b) I. Ott, B. Kircher, C. P.
Bagowski, D. H. W. Vlecken, E. B. Ott, J. Will, K. Bensdorf,
W. S. Sheldrick, R. Gust, Angew. Chem. 2009, 121, 1180 – 1184;
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2009, 48, 1160 – 1163; c) I. Ott, X. Qian,
Y. Xu, D. H. W. Vlecken, I. J. Marques, D. Kubutat, J. Will, W. S.
Sheldrick, P. Jesse, A. Prokop, C. P. Bagowski, J. Med. Chem.
2009, 52, 763 – 770.
Received: February 4, 2010
Published online: April 30, 2010
Keywords: bioorganometallic chemistry · angiogenesis · flt4/
.
[16] R. S. Kerbel, N. Engl. J. Med. 2008, 358, 2039 – 2049.
[17] a) S. Nicoli, M. Presta, Nat. Protoc. 2007, 2, 2918 – 2923; b) S.
Nicoli, D. Ribatti, F. Cotelli, M. Presta, Cancer Res. 2007, 67,
2927 – 2931.
vegfr3 · protein kinase inhibitor · iridium
[1] E. Meggers, Curr. Opin. Chem. Biol. 2007, 11, 287 – 292.
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