Fluorouridine activity

Mata, J. F., et al. Role of the human concentrative nucleoside transporter (hCNTl) in the cytotoxic action of 5[Prime]-deoxy-5-fluorouridine, an active intermediate metabolite of capecitabine, a novel oral anticancer drug. Mol. Pharmacol. 2001, 59, 1542— 1548. 

Addition of P F]F2 (or CH3C02f F]F) at the double bond of substituted 2,4-dioxypyrimidines (Scheme 16) allows the preparation of the fluorine-18-labelled nucleic acid base 5-[ F]fluorouracil [91-94] and the nucleoside 2 -deoxy-5-[ F]fluorouridine [95-97]. The reaction, usually carried out in acetic acid, demonstrates an excellent regioselectivity, with only the 5-[ F]fluoro derivatives obtained because the C-5 position is the unique activated position for reaction with an electrophile in these systems. The mechanism of this reaction has been studied and the intermediate 5,6-fluoro-acetoxy adduct (or the 5,6-fluoro-hydroxy adduct if the solvent is water) has been isolated and characterised [92]. 

Orotate phosphoribosyltransferase (OPRT) catalyses the conversion of 5-FU to fluorouridine monophosphate (FUMP), which is subsequently phosphorylated to activated fluorouridine triphosphate (FUTP). FUTP incorporates into RNA and thereby compromises RNA processing and function (Fig. 1). 

Fig. lA. Anabolic and catabolic pathways of 5-FU. DPD dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase, DP di-hydropyrimidinase, pUP beta-ureidopropionase, UP uridine phosphorylase, OPRT orotate phospho-ribosyl transferase, UK uridine kinase, TP thymidine phosphorylase, TK thymidine kinase, RNR ribonucleotide reductase. The three active metabolites (shown in rectangles) are FdUMP (5-fluoro-2 -deoxyuridine 5 -monophosphate) inhibiting TS (thymidylate synthase), and FUTP (5-fluorouridine 5 -triphosphate) and FdUTP (5-fluoro 2 -deoxyuridine 5 -triphosphate) interfering with RNA and DNA, respectively. 

Flucytosine is taken up by fungal cells via the enzyme cytosine permease. It is converted intracellularly first to 5-FU and then to 5-fluorodeoxyuridine monophosphate (FdUMP) and fluorouridine triphosphate (FUTP), which inhibit DNA and RNA synthesis, respectively (Figure 48-1). Human cells are unable to convert the parent drug to its active metabolites, resulting in selective toxicity. 

Fluorouracil (5-FU) is inactive in its parent form and requires activation via a complex series of enzymatic reactions to ribosyl and deoxyribosyl nucleotide metabolites. One of these metabolites, 5-fluoro-2 -deoxyuridine-5 -monophosphate (FdUMP), forms a covalently ternary complex with the enzyme thymidylate synthase and the reduced folate 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate, a reaction critical for the de novo synthesis of thymidylate. This results in inhibition of DNA synthesis through "thymineless death." 5-FU is converted to 5-fluorouridine-5 -triphosphate (FUTP), which is then incorporated into RNA, where it interferes with RNA processing and mRNA translation. 5-FU is also converted to 5-fluorodeoxyuridine-5 -triphosphate (FdUTP), which can be incorporated into cellular DNA, resulting in inhibition of DNA synthesis and function. Thus, the cytotoxicity of 5-FU is thought to be the result of combined effects on both DNA- and RNA-mediated events. 

The in vivo metabolism of capecitabine (1) to the active tumor cytotoxic substance 5-fluorouracil (5) is now fairly well understood. When capecitabine is administered orally it is delivered to the small intestine, where it is not a substrate for thymidine phosphorylase in intestinal tissue, and so passes through the intestinal mucosa as an intact molecule and into the bloodstream. When 1 reaches the liver, the carbamate moiety is hydrolyzed through the action of carboxylesterase enzymes, liberating 5 -deoxy-5-fluorocytidine (5 -DFCR, 10). DFUR is partially stable in systemic circulation, but eventually diffuses into tumor cell tissue where it is transformed into 5 -deoxy-5-fluorouridine (5 -DFUR, 9) by cytidine deaminase, an enzyme present in high concentrations in various types of human cancers compared to adjacent healthy cells (although it is present in significantly lower levels in the liver). Within the tumor, 5-... 

Fluorouracil is a lluorinated pyrimidine, which is converted intraceUularly to the active form, fluorodeoxyuridine monophosphate, which inhibits thymidylate synthetase and hence reduces the production of thymidylic acid, the deox)Tibonucleotide of thymine (5-methyluracil), a DNA pyrimidine base, blocking DNA synthesis. In addition, intracellular conversion to 5-fluorouridine monophosphate results in incorporation of the activated antimetaboUte into RNA and consequent RNA dysfunction. 

Concurrent administration of allopurinol with fluorouracil inhibits the intracellular formation of fluorouridine monophosphate from fluorouracil in normal tissues. In tumor cells that activate fluorouracil by alternative pathways, antitumor responses are still seen (2). Allopurinol increased the half-life of high-dose fluorouracil when it was given by intravenous bolus but not when it was given by 5-day continuous infusion (2). 

Uridine and A -benzyluridine have been reported to show sleep-promoting activity [37] and hypnotic activity [38], respectively. We have been very interested in this topic and have studied the hypnotic activity of A3-substituted 2 -deoxy-2 -a-fluorouridines to determine their SAR trends. For the synthesis of the key compound 4 (2 -deoxy-2 -a-fluorou-ridine), an alternative synthetic route via arabinoside was developed since a previously reported method [39] involving a ring-cleavage reaction of 2,2 -O-cyclouridine (3, X = H) required severe reaction conditions, such as exposure to HF (see Scheme 7.1). The new route is illustrated in Scheme 7.7. The hydroxyl groups of 2,2 -O-cyclouridine (3) were... 

Sato, Y., Utsumi, K., Maruyama, T., et al. (1994) Synthesis and hypnotic and anti-human immunodeficiency virus-1 activities of -Substituted 2 -Deoxy-2 -fluorouridines. Chem. Pharm. Bull., 42, 595-598. 

Figure 13.44. Metabolic activation of capecitabine (50), a site-selective multistep prodrug of the antitumor drug 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) (53)Following oral absorption, the prodrug is hydrolyzed by liver carboxylesterase to a carbamic acid that spontaneously decarboxylates to 5 -deow-5-fluorocy-tidine (51). The latter is transformed into 5 -deoxy-5-fluorouridine (52) by cytidine deaminase present in the liver and tumors. The third activation step occurs selectively in tumor cells and involves the transformation to 5-FU (53), catalyzed by thymidine phosphorylase (221).

Fluorouracil (5-FU) requires enzymatic conversion to the nucleotide (ribosylation and phosphorylation) in order to exert its cytotoxic activity. Several routes are available for the formation of floxuridine monophosphate (FUMP). 5-FU may be converted to fluorouridine by uridine phos-phorylase and then to FUMP by uridine kinase, or it may react directly with 5-phosphoribosyl-l-pyrophosphate (PRPP), in a reaction catalyzed by orotate phosphoribosyl transferase, to form FUMP. Many metabolic pathways are available to FUMP. As the triphosphate FUTP, it may be incorporated into RNA. An alternative reaction sequence... 

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