Oxidative Deboronation of the Peptide Boronic Acid Proteasome Inhibitor Bortezomib: Contributions from Reactive Oxygen Species in This Novel Cytochrome P450 Reaction

Abstract

Bortezomib (1) is a potent first-in-class dipeptidyl boronic acid proteasome inhibitor employed in the treatment of patients with relapsed multiple myeloma where the disease is refractory to conventional lines of therapy. The potency of 1 is owed primarily to the presence of the boronic acid moiety, one which is suited to establish a tetrahedral intermediate with the active site N-terminal threonine residue of the proteasome. Hence, deboronation of 1 represents a deactivation pathway for this chemotherapeutic agent. Deboronation of 1 affords a near equal mixture of diastereomeric carbinolamide metabolites (M1/M2) and represents the principal metabolic pathway observed in humans. In vitro results from human liver microsomes and human cDNA-expressed cytochrome P450 enzymes (P450) indicate a role for P450 in the deboronation of 1. Use of ¹⁸O-labeled oxygen under controlled atmospheres confirmed an oxidative mechanism in the P450-mediated deboronation of 1, as ¹⁸O was found incorporated in both M1 and M2. Chemically generated reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as those generated as byproducts during P450 catalysis, were also found to deboronate 1 resulting in the formation of M1 and M2. Known to undergo efficient redox cycling, P450 2E1 was found to catalyze the deboronation of 1 predominantly to the carbinolamide metabolites M1 and M2, as well as to a pair of peroxycarbinolamides, 2 and 3. The presence of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase prevented the deboronation of 1, thus, supporting the involvement of ROS in the P450 2E1-catalyzed deboronation reaction. The presence of SOD and catalase also protected 1 against P450 3A4-catalyzed deboronation, albeit to a lesser extent. The remaining deboronation activity observed in the P450 3A4 reaction may suggest the involvement of the more conventional activated enzyme-oxidants previously described for P450. Our present findings indicate that the oxidase activity of P450 (i.e., formation of ROS) represents a mechanism of deboronation.