9-[3-(2-Nitro-1-imidazolyl)propylamino]-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroacridine hydrochloride. A novel DNA-affinic hypoxic cell cytotoxin and radiosensitizer. Comparison with NLA-1.

Electron-affinic compounds with strong DNA intercalating properties have demonstrated less than the expected radiosensitization due to restriction of their mobility along the DNA backbone and their lower extravascular diffusion in tumors. A 2-nitroimidazole linked 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroacridine derivative (THNLA-1) has been synthesized as a hypoxia-selective cytotoxin and radiosensitizer with presumably lower DNA-binding affinity due to the perturbation of the planarity in the acridine ring. THNLA-1 is a good hypoxia-selective cytotoxin with a differential toxicity of approximately equal to 11 in V79 cells, but it is approximately equal to 2 times less potent on a concentration basis than NLA-1 (the 2-nitroimidazole linked acridine analog). However, THNLA-1 is a very efficient radiosensitizer, showing a sensitization enhancement ratio (SER) of 3.04 +/- 0.05 at 100 microM at 25 degrees C, and the concentration giving an SER of 1.6(C1.6) is 19.0 +/- 0.5 microM. The therapeutic index, defined as the ratio of the clonogenic IC50 under aerobic conditions for 1-h exposure (IC50A,1h) to the C1.6 value, is 20 for THNLA-1 vs. 11 for NLA-1. THNLA-1's partition coefficient in octanol/water is 0.14 +/- 0.02. Topoisomerase I and II interaction studies with THNLA-1 showed that topoisomerase I-mediated relaxation of supercoiled DNA was inhibited at relatively high THNLA-1 concentrations (> or = 1000 microM), while topoisomerase II-mediated decatenation of kinetoplast DNA remained unaffected even in concentrations toxic in vitro under aerobic conditions. Uptake studies under aerobic conditions showed high intracellular drug concentrations, compatible with the required ones for topoisomerase I inhibition.