Thiazolidine prodrugs of cysteamine and cysteine as radioprotective agents
- Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States); and others
The need for protection against the toxic effects of ionizing radiation comes from many different directions: occupational exposure, nuclear accidents, environmental sources and protection of normal tissue during the therapeutic irradiation of cancer. Sulfhydryl-containing compounds, including cysteamine and L-cysteine, have long been known to possess radioprotective properties, but their therapeutic utility is limited by their side effects at radioprotective doses. To avoid this drawback, thiazolidine prodrugs of cysteamine and L-cysteine were prepared by the condensation of each thiolamine with the aldose monosaccharides, D-ribose and D-glucose, producing RibCyst, GlcCyst, Rib-Cys and GlcCys. The prodrugs were designed to liberate the parent thiolamine nonenzymatically, after ring opening and hydrolysis, which is then available e to function as a radioprotective agent. Cysteamine`s inherent toxicity, measured using Chinese hamster V79 cells growing in culture, was completely eliminated, even at concentrations as high as 25 mM, by providing the thiolamine in the form of a prodrug. Good protection against radiation-induced lethality was demonstrated by the cysteamine prodrugs using a clonogenic assay. Protection against radiation-induced DNA single-strand breaks, as measured by alkaline elution, was also shown by both RibCyst and GlcCyst; this activity was higher than that exhibited by either cysteamine or WR-1065. The L-cysteine prodrugs, RibCys and GlcCys, also possessed radioprotective abilities under most of the conditions studied. Protection against DNA damage was comparable between L-cystein, WR-1065 and RibCys. 42 refs., 7 figs., 2 tabs.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 121758
- Journal Information:
- Radiation Research, Journal Name: Radiation Research Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 143; ISSN 0033-7587; ISSN RAREAE
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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