Methyl 6-Amino-6-deoxy-d-pyranoside-Conjugated Platinum(II) Complexes for Glucose Transporter (GLUT)-Mediated Tumor Targeting: Synthesis, Cytotoxicity, and Cellular Uptake Mechanism.

Methyl 6-aminodeoxy-d-pyranoside-derived platinum(II) glycoconjugates were designed and synthesized based on the clinical drug oxaliplatin for glucose transporter (GLUT)-mediated tumor targeting. In addition to a substantial improvement in water solubility, the conjugates exhibited cytotoxicity similar to or higher than that of oxaliplatin in six different human cancer cell lines. GLUT-mediated transport of the complexes was investigated with a cell-based fluorescence competition assay and GLUT-inhibitor-mediated cytotoxicity analysis in a GLUT-overexpressing human colorectal adenocarcinoma (HT29) cell line. The antitumor effect of the aminodeoxypyranoside-conjugated platinum(II) complexes was found to depend significantly on the GLUT inhibitor, and the cellular uptake of the molecules was regulated by GLUT-mediated transport. The results from this study demonstrate the potential advantages of aminodeoxypyranosides as sugar motifs for glycoconjugation for Warburg-effect-targeted drug design. These fundamental results also support the potential of aminodeoxypyranoside-conjugated platinum(II) complexes as lead compounds for further preclinical evaluation.