IST-02

Two new monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) which reacted with canine fibronectin were produced and characterized. Data supported the conclusion that the epitope recognized by Mab 1H9A4 is within the first three Type III homology repeats of the Hep 2 domain and that the epitope for Mab 13G3B7 is within the last Type III homology repeat of fibronectin. These antibodies, along with three others, Mabs IST-2, IST-7, and IST-9, produced and characterized in the laboratories of L. Zardi of Genoa, Italy, were used to characterize canine cartilage and plasma fibronectin. In addition, cartilage explants were labeled with [35S]methionine in order to characterize newly synthesized cartilage fibronectin. The following observations were made. (i) Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (NaDodSO4-PAGE) of reduced canine plasma fibronectin revealed a characteristic doublet; reduced cartilage fibronectin revealed two major bands and one minor band. The lower molecular weight band was 10 kDa less than the beta subunit of plasma fibronectin. In Western blots, this band stained with Mab 1H9A4 but failed to react with Mab 13G3B7. (ii) Western blots of thermolysin and trypsin digests of cartilage fibronectin revealed cleavage patterns which differed from those obtained from digestions of plasma fibronectin. (iii) The ED-A sequence, detected by Mab IST-9, was present in less than 2% of the cartilage fibronectins. (iv) NaDodSO4-PAGE of purified and reduced 35S-labeled fibronectin revealed two major radioactive bands and one minor radioactive band which comigrated with the fibronectin from the cartilage but not with plasma fibronectin. We concluded that like "cellular" fibronectin, the ratio of alpha-type subunits to beta subunits was greater than 4 to 1 in cartilage fibronectin compared to 1.25 to 1 for plasma fibronectin; however, cartilage fibronectin was not a cellular fibronectin by the criterion of the presence of the ED-A sequence. Another difference between plasma and cartilage fibronectin was the presence in cartilage fibronectin of a subpopulation of subunits on which the last Type III homology repeat could not be detected. Biosynthetic data were consistent with the concept that cartilage fibronectin originates from local synthesis by the chondrocyte.

Imidazolidine and thiazolidine-based isatin derivatives (IST-01–04) were synthesized, characterized, and tested for their interactions with ds-DNA. Theoretical and experimental findings showed good compatibility and indicated compound–DNA binding by mixed mode of interactions. The evaluated binding parameters, i.e., binding constant (Kb), free energy change (ΔG), and binding site sizes (n), inferred comparatively greater and more spontaneous binding interactions of IST-02 and then IST-04 with the DNA, among all compounds tested under physiological pH and temperature (7.4, 37 °C). The cytotoxic activity of all compounds was assessed against HeLa (cervical carcinoma), MCF-7 (breast carcinoma), and HuH-7 (liver carcinoma), as well as normal HEK-293 (human embryonic kidney) cell lines. Among all compounds, IST-02 and 04 were found to be cytotoxic against HuH-7 cell lines with percentage cell toxicity of 75% and 66%, respectively, at 500 ng/µL dosage. Moreover, HEK-293 cells exhibit tolerance to the increasing drug concentration, suggesting these two compounds are less cytotoxic against normal cell lines compared to cancer cell lines. Hence, both DNA binding and cytotoxicity studies proved imidazolidine (IST-02) and thiazolidine (IST-04)-based isatin derivatives as potent anticancer drug candidates among which imidazolidine (IST-02) is comparatively the more promising.