ANTINEOPLASTIC AGENTS 365 - DOLASTATIN 10 SAR PROBES

The remarkable anticancer drug dolastatin 10(1a) from the Indian Ocean sea hare Dolabella auricularia is currently undergoing phase I clinic al trials Thirty-eight new structural modifications of this unusual pe ptide have been synthesized and evaluated against a variety of human a nd murine cancer cell lines, and for their ability to inhibit tubulin polymerization and vinblastine and GTP binding to tubulin. Dolastatin 10 and one structural modification was found to have antifungal activi ty, while one other structural modification of the parent compound exh ibited antibacterial activity. Some of the new peptides approximated t he antineoplastic potency of dolastatin 10, especially those based on replacement of the Doe unit with Met, Phe or an appropriately substitu ted phenylethylamide.