Effect of glutathione depletion on removal of copper from LEC rat livers by tetrathiomolybdate

Tetrathiomolybdate (TTM) is a powerful and selective copper (Cu) chelator that is used as a therapeutic agent for Wilson disease. TTM is the sole agent that can remove Cu bound to metallothionein (MT) in the livers of Long-Evans rats with a cinnamon-like coat color (LEC rats). However, the administration of excess TTM causes the deposition of Cu and molybdenum (Mo) in the liver. In the present study, the effect of hepatic glutathione (GSH) depletion on the removal of Cu from the livers of LEC rats was evaluated to establish an effective therapy by TTM. Pretreatment with l-buthionine sulfoximine (BSO), a depletor of GSH in vivo, reduced the amounts of Cu and Mo excreted into both the bile and the bloodstream, and increased the amounts of Cu and Mo deposited in the livers of LEC rats in the form of an insoluble complex 4 h after the TTM injection. The results suggest that GSH depletion creates an oxidative environment in the livers of LEC rats, and the oxidative environment facilitates the insolubilization of Cu and Mo in the livers of LEC rats after the TTM injection. Therefore, the effect of TTM on the removal of Cu from the liver was reduced in the oxidized condition. Wilson disease patients and LEC rats develop liver injury caused by oxidative damage. From a clinical viewpoint, increasing in the GSH concentration is expected to enhance the effect of TTM.     

Synthesis, spectroscopic, thermal and X-ray structure characterization of 1,3-propanediammonium tetrathiomolybdate and N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylethylenediammonium tetrathiomolybdate

The title compounds 1,3-propanediammonium tetrathiomolybdate, (1,3-pnH₂)[MoS₄], 1 and, N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylethylenediammonium tetrathiomolybdate, (tmenH₂)[MoS₄], 2, were prepared by reacting the ammonium salt of [MoS₄]²⁻ with the corresponding organic diamine. In 1 and 2 the organic diamines 1,3-propanediamine (1,3-pn) and N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylethylenediamine (tmen) are present in their diprotonated form. The reaction of 1 or 2 with [Ni(en)₃]Cl₂ · 2H₂O (en is ethylenediamine) results in the formation of the highly insoluble complex tris(ethylenediamine)Ni(II) tetrathiomolybdate, [Ni(en)₃][MoS₄], in quantitative yields. 1 and 2 have been characterized by chemical analysis, vibrational, UV-Vis and NMR spectroscopy, TG-DTA-MS and single crystal X-ray crystallography. Compound 1 is thermally more stable compared to 2. Both complexes decompose in a single step forming amorphous molybdenum sulfide. The structure of the title complexes can be described as consisting of tetrahedral [MoS₄]²⁻ dianions which accept a complex series of H-bonds from the organic dications. The strength and number of these hydrogen bonds affect the Mo-S bond lengths.     

Novel chalcogenides of thymidine and uridine: synthesis, properties and applications

A facile and efficient methodology has been developed for the synthesis of dithymidine and di-uridine derived disulfides using benzyltriethylammonium tetrathiomolybdate as a sulfur transfer reagent. However, a similar reaction of thymidine derivative with tetraethylammonium tetraselenotungstate as a selenium transfer reagent resulted in the formation of an unexpected cyclic diselenide. The disulfide derivatives of nucleosides have been used as precursors in a tandem disulfide cleavage-Michael addition/ring opening reactions to construct aminoacid and carbocyclic derivatives of nucleosides.     

The promise of copper lowering therapy with tetrathiomolybdate in the cure of cancer and in the treatment of inflammatory disease

Tetrathiomolybdate (TM) is a unique anticopper drug developed for the treatment of the neurologic presentation of Wilson's disease, for which it is excellent. Since it was known copper was required for angiogenesis, TM was tested on mouse cancer models to see if it would inhibit tumor growth based on an antiangiogenic effect. TM was extremely effective in these models, but all the tumors in the models started small in size – micrometastatic in size. Later, TM was tested in numerous human cancer trials, where it showed only modest effects. However, the mouse lesson of efficacy against micro disease was forgotten – all the trials were against bulky, advanced cancer. Now, the mouse evidence is coming back to life. Three groups are curing, or having major efficacy of TM, against advanced human cancers, heretofore virtually incurable, particularly if the cancer has been reduced to no evidence of disease (NED) status by conventional therapy. In that situation, where the remaining disease is micrometastatic, TM therapy appears to be curative. We have designed and initiated a study of TM in canine osteosarcoma at the micrometastatic phase to help put these findings on a firm scientific basis. TM also has major anti-inflammatory properties by inhibiting copper dependent cytokines involved in inflammation. This anti-inflammatory effect may be involved in TM's anticancer effect because cancers, as they advance, attract inflammatory cells that provide a plethora of additional proangiogenic agents.