Mechanism of action edit

The precise mechanism of action for thalidomide is unknown, but possible mechanisms include anti-angiogenic and oxidative stress-inducing effects.[1] It also inhibits TNF-α, IL-6, IL-10 and IL-12 production,[2] modulates the production of IFN-γ[2] and enhances the production of IL-2, IL-4 and IL-5 by immune cells.[2] It increases lymphocyte count, costimulates T cells and modulates natural killer cell cytotoxicity.[2] It also inhibits NF-κB and COX-2 activity.[1]

The mechanism of thalidomide's teratogenic action has led to over 2000 research papers and the proposal of 15 or 16 plausible mechanisms.[3] Angiogenesis is critical during limb development of the foetus. In 1998, it was found in vivo that during limb development thalidomide was able to inhibit the stimulatory effects of growth factors FGF-2 and IGF-1[4] that promote angiogenesis. Surface integrin αVβ3 is notably important in this process Previous work showed thalidomide's ability to decrease integrin production on the cell surface, decreasing the cell's ability to stimulate new blood vessels, and inhibit angiogenesis stimulated by FGF-2.[5]Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page without content in them (see the help page).[6] It was soon found that αVβ3 had several GC box sequences in its promoter region and the same was true for FGF-2 and IGF-1 and their receptors on the cell surface.[7][8][9][10]Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).[11] Further investigation into this phenomenon found that at least eight other proteins in the growth-stimulating cascade too had promotors containing this region.[12][13] Thalidomide has a high affinity for guanine, thus it was hypothesized that Thalidomide intercalates into these GC boxes and prevents integrins from stimulating new blood vessels that support limb development. [12][13]

In 2009, research by other groups confirmed "conclusively that loss of newly formed blood vessels is the primary cause of thalidomide teratogenesis, and developing limbs are particularly susceptible because of their relatively immature, highly angiogenic vessel network".[14][15]

TNF-α edit

Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) is a cytokine that is chiefly involved in regulating white blood cells. Changes in the regulation of this protein has been found to be related to various diseases such as Alzheimer's disease[16] and cancer.[17].

In 1990, a group of researchers in Brazil noted that TNF-α levels went up in leprosy reactional states and observed that TNF levels decreased in some patients on treatment with thalidomide, hence potentially explaining the efficacy of thalidomide in treating ENL.[18]

 
Thiothalidomides have a greater inhibitory effect on TNF-α than thalidomide. The more substituted the molecule, the stronger its inhibitory effect.

In light of this, further study of how this drug affected TNF-α were conducted. In 1993, thalidomide was found to selectively degrade TNF-α mRNA[19], however how it does so is unclear. This is compared to other known TFN-α inhibitors, some of which have been found to block transcription of the TNF-α gene[20], TNFA, or block translation of the mRNA.[21] Further, this reduction in TNF-α lead to a decrease in inflammatory cytokine levels, suggesting thalidomide's use in treating other inflammatory infections.

Thalidomide analogs have been found to have even more profound effects on TNF-α inhibition than their parent molecule. Replacing thalidomide's carbonyls with thiones increased its ability to inhibit TNF-α[22] in the following order:

trithiothalidomide > dithiothalidomide > monothiothalidomide > thalidomide

as seen in the structures to the right. It is hypothesized that this these analogs act on the 3'-UTR of TNFA to exert their effects.

Synthesis edit

Thalidomide is synthesized into a racemic mixture, however separating the mixture into a enatiomerically pure solution would prove fruitless[23][24][25] as the racemization can occur in vivo.[26][27][23][28] Celgene Corporation originally synthesized thalidomide using a three-step sequence starting with L-glutamic acid treatment, but this has since been reformed by the use of L-glutamine.[29] As shown in the image below, N-carbethoxyphtalimide (1) can react with L-glutamine to yield N-Phthaloyl-L-glutamine (2). Cyclization of N-Phthaloyl-L-glutamine occurs using carbonyldiimidazole, which then yields thalidomide (3).[29] This method of synthesis allows for a high yield of thalidomide, which is useful for industrial purposes.

 
Muller et al.'s two-step thalidomide synthesis
  1. ^ a b Kim, James H.; Scialli, Anthony R. (2011). "Thalidomide: The Tragedy of Birth Defects and the Effective Treatment of Disease". Toxicological Sciences. 122 (1): 1–6. doi:10.1093/toxsci/kfr088. PMID 21507989.
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  4. ^ Stephens, T; Bunde, C; Torres, R; Hackett, D; Stark, M; Smith, D; Fillmore, B (1998). "Thalidomide inhibits limb development through its antagonism of IGF-1+ FGF-2+ heparin". Tertology. 57 (112). {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  5. ^ Neubert, R; Hinz, N; Thiel, R; Neubert, D (15 Dec 1995). "Down-regulation of adhesion receptors on cells of primate embryos as a probable mechanism of the teratogenic action of thalidomide". Life sciences. 58 (4): 295–316. doi:0024-3205(95)02290-2. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check |doi= value (help)
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  7. ^ Pasumarthi, Kishore B. S.; Jin, Yan; Cattini, Peter A. (18 November 2002). "Cloning of the Rat Fibroblast Growth Factor-2 Promoter Region and Its Response to Mitogenic Stimuli in Glioma C6 Cells". Journal of Neurochemistry. 68 (3): 898–908. doi:10.1046/j.1471-4159.1997.68030898.x.
  8. ^ Boisclair, Yves R.; Brown, Alexandra L.; Casola, Stefano; Rechler, Matthew M (25 Nov 1993). "Three Clustered Spl Sites Are Required for Efficient Transcription of the TATA-less Promoter of the Gene for Insulin-like Growth Factor-binding Protein-2 from the Rat". The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 268 (33): 24892–24901. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  9. ^ Perez-Castro, Ana V.; Wilson, Julie; Altherr, Michael R. (April 1997). "Genomic Organization of the Human Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor 3 (FGFR3) Gene and Comparative Sequence Analysis with the MouseFgfr3Gene". Genomics. 41 (1): 10–16. doi:10.1006/geno.1997.4616. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
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  13. ^ a b Stephens, TD; Fillmore, BJ (March 2000). "Hypothesis: thalidomide embryopathy-proposed mechanism of action". Teratology. 61 (3): 189–95. PMID 10661908.
  14. ^ Therapontos C, Erskine L, Gardner ER, Figg WD, Vargesson N (May 2009). "Thalidomide induces limb defects by preventing angiogenic outgrowth during early limb formation". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 106 (21): 8573–8. Bibcode:2009PNAS..106.8573T. doi:10.1073/pnas.0901505106. JSTOR 40482723. PMC 2688998. PMID 19433787.
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  18. ^ Sarno EN, Grau GE, Vieira LM, Nery JA (April 1991). "Serum levels of tumour necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-1 beta during leprosy reactional states". Clin. Exp. Immunol. 84 (1): 103–8. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2249.1991.tb08131.x. PMC 1535359. PMID 2015700.
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