In this study, we synthesized the valine (Val)-conjugated amide prodrug of doxorubicin (DOX) by the formation of amide bonds between DOX and Val. The synthesis of the DOX-Val prodrug was identified by a proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H-NMR) assay. In the MCF-7 cells (human breast adenocarcinoma cell; amino acid transporter-positive cell), the cellular accumulation efficiency of DOX-Val was...

Bacterial nitroreductase enzymes that can efficiently catalyse the oxygen-independent reduction of prodrugs originally developed to target tumour hypoxia offer great potential for expanding the therapeutic range of these molecules to aerobic tumour regions, via the emerging cancer strategy of gene-directed enzyme prodrug therapy (GDEPT). Two promising hypoxia prodrugs for GDEPT are the dinitrob...

The rationale fo the development of prodrugs relies upon delivery of higher concentrations of a drug to target cells compared to administration of the drug itself. In the last decades, numerous prodrugs that are enzymatically activated into anti-cancer agents have been developed. This review describes the most important enzymes involved in prodrug activation notably with respect to tissue distr...

The enzyme carboxypeptidase G2 (CPG2) was conjugated to the rat IgG2a monoclonal antibody (mAb) ICR12, which recognizes the external domain of the human c-erbB2 protooncogene product. The conjugate retained antigen-binding and enzyme activity. Radiolabeled conjugate localized efficiently and stably to MDA MB 361 breast carcinoma xenografts, which overexpress the c-erbB2 gene product p185. Radio...

Ketorolac is a potent nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug. Recently, a novel ester of ketorolac, ketorolac pentyl ester, was synthesized. When prepared in injectable oil, the new agent demonstrated a long duration of action. Ketorolac pentyl ester was synthesized using a prodrug design by esterification of ketorolac, and appeared to be a prodrug of ketorolac in vivo, which needed to be confirme...

Plasmodium vivax is the most prevalent of the five species causing malaria in humans. The current available treatment for P. vivax malaria is limited and unsatisfactory due to at least two drawbacks: the undesirable side effects of primaquine (PQ) and drug resistance to chloroquine. Phenylalanine-alanine-PQ (Phe-Ala-PQ) is a PQ prodrug with a more favorable pharmacokinetic profile compared to P...

A myriad of drug delivery systems such as liposomes, micelles, polymers and inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) have been developed for cancer therapy. Very few of them, however, have the ability to integrate multiple functionalities such as specific delivery, high circulation stability, controllable release and good biocompatibility and biodegradability in a single system to improve the therapeutic ...

Many of the strategies developed in the last few years to treat cancer by gene therapy are based on putative killer-suicide genes whose products convert a prodrug into a toxic compound. When the therapy is applied to humans, a vector carrying the killer gene is first inoculated into the tumor of the patient, who 1 week later receives the corresponding prodrug that will selectively kill the cell...

Antimicrobial Peptides (AMPs) have unique anticancer properties, but their clinical application is currently limited by an inadequate margin of safety. A prodrug strategy associated with a combination therapy approach could address this limitation by increasing their therapeutic index and their efficacy. Accordingly, the first targeted anticancer polymeric prodrug candidates of AMPs, intended f...

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV) thymidine kinase (TK) has been widely used in suicide gene therapy for the treatment of cancer due to its broad substrate specificity and the inability of the endogenous human TK to phosphorylate guanosine analogs such as ganciclovir (GCV). The basis of suicide gene therapy is the introduction of a gene that encodes a prodrug-activating enzyme into tumor cells....