Hydrophilic, Pro-Drug Analogues of T138067 Are Efficacious in Controlling Tumor Growth In Vivo and Show a Decreased Ability To Cross the Blood Brain Barrier

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Abstract
The novel anticancer compound T138067 is an irreversible inhibitor of tubulin polymerization. Amides 3−6 were synthesized using standard methodologies and determined to be significantly less lipophilic than T138067 based on logP calculations. Tubulin polymerization and [3H]-T138067 competition assays revealed that these amides are pro-drugs for parent aniline 2. Amides 3−5 showed no detectable signs of crossing the blood brain barrier, while amide 6 was found in extremely small amounts (12 ng/g of brain tissue). Aniline 2, which was formed in vivo from these amides, was found in significantly smaller amounts (approximately 20 to >5000 times) in the brain than when 2 was administered directly. The in vivo efficacy of amide 6 approached that of T138067 and was better tolerated when administered to athymic nude mice bearing MX-1 human mammary tumor xenografts.