Antitumor activity of amino acid derivatives in the primary screening.

Approximately 350 amino acid derivatives were synthesized and tested for antitumor activity in four tumor systems. The effect on life prolongation and tumor growth was examined using mouse leukemia SR-61, Ehrlich ascites carcinoma, ascites sarcoma-180, and rat ascites hepatoma (AH-60C). Among these 350 derivatives, 29 compounds were found to be significantly effective in prolongation of the median life-span and inhibitory effect on tumor growth in the primary screening. Among these 29 compounds, the following five compounds were found to possess potential antitumor activity: N-(2-Naphthalene)sulfonyl-DL-tryptophan (A-91), 2-naphthylaminomethyl-gamma-aminobutyric acid (A-144), N-ethylcarbaminomethyl-L-isoleucine (A-145), N-9-fluorenylacetyl-L-phenylalanine (A-192), and N-propionyl-L-valine (A-195). These five compounds were active in prolongation of the life-span of mice bearing Ehrlich ascites carcinoma and in the inhibition of the cell growth. Some of these amino acid derivatives inhibited biosynthesis of macromolecules, DNA, RNA, and protein, in tumor cells. These results suggest that the site of action of the five amino acid derivatives appears to result from the inhibition of macromolecules and another unknown mechanism.