Author(s)

Cody P. Coyne, Toni Jones, Andrzej Sygula, John Bailey, Lesya Pinchuk

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Purpose: Discover the anti-neoplastic efficacy of epirubicin-(C13-imino)-[anti-HER2/neu] against chemotherapeutic- resistant SKBr-3 mammary carcinoma and delineate the capacity of selenium to enhance it’s cytotoxic anti-neoplastic potency. Methods: In molar excess, EMCH was combined with epirubicin to create a covalent epirubicin-(C13-imino)-EMCH-maleimide intermediate with sulfhydryl-reactive properties. Monoclonal immunoglobulin selective for HER2/neu was then thiolated with 2-iminothiolane at the terminal ε-amine group of lysine residues. The sulfhydryl-reactive epirubicin-(C13-imino)-EMCH intermediate was then combined with thiolated anti-HER2/neu monoclonal immunoglobulin. Western-blot analysis was utilized to characterize the molecular weight profiles while binding of epirubicin-(C13-imino)-[anti-HER2/neu] to membrane receptors was determined by cell-ELISA utilizing populations of SKBr-3 mammary carcinoma that highly over-expresses HER2/neu complexes. Anti-neoplastic potency of epirubicin-(C13-imino)-[anti-HER2/ neu] between the epirubicin-equivalent concentrations of 10–12 M and 10–7 M was determined by vitality staining analysis with and without the presence of selenium (5 μM). Results: Epiribucin-(C13-imino)-[anti-HER2/neu] between epirubicin-equivalent concentrations of 10–8 M to 10–7 M consistently evoked higher anti-neoplastic potency than “free” non- conjugated epirubicin which corresponded with previous investigations utilizing epirubicin-(C3-amide)-[anti-HER2/neu] and epirubicin-(C3-amide)-[anti-EGFR]. Selenium at 5 mM consistently enhanced the cytotoxic anti-neoplastic potency of epirubicin-(C13-imino)-[anti-HER2/neu] at epirubicin equivalent concentrations (10–12 to 10–7 M). Conclusions: Epirubicin-(C13-imino)-[anti-HER2/neu] is more potent than epirubicin against chemotherapeutic-resistant SKBr-3 mammary carcinoma and selenium enhances epirubicin-(C13-imino)-[anti-HER2/neu] potency. The methodology applied for synthesizing epirubicin-(C13-imino)-[anti-HER2/neu] is relatively time convenient and has low instrumentation requirements.

Epirubicin-(C13-Imino)-[Anti-HER2/neu], Chemotherapeutic-Resistant Mammary Carcinoma, HER2/neu, Selenium, Synthesis

C. Coyne, T. Jones, A. Sygula, J. Bailey and L. Pinchuk, "Epirubicin-[Anti-HER2/neu] Synthesized with an Epirubicin-(C13-imino)-EMCS Analog: Anti-Neoplastic Activity against Chemotherapeutic-Resistant SKBr-3 Mammary Carcinoma in Combination with Organic Selenium," Journal of Cancer Therapy, Vol. 2 No. 1, 2011, pp. 22-39. doi: 10.4236/jct.2011.21004.