Ring-Expanded (“Fat”) Nucleosides as Broad-Spectrum Anticancer and Antiviral Agents

Ring-expanded (“fat”) nucleosides (RENs) described in this review are analogues of purine nucleosides containing a 5:7-fused imidazodiazepine or imidazotriazepine ring system. They are both of natural and synthetic origin, and are of chemical, biochemical, biophysical, as well as medicinal interest. The important natural RENs include coformycin, pentostatin, azepinomycin, adechlorin, and adecypenol. A majority of them are synergistic antitumor and / or antiviral antibiotics which potentiate the effects of other antitumor or antiviral compounds through inhibition of key enzymes such as adenosine deaminase or guanase which would otherwise metabolically degrade the active compounds into therapeutically less potent or totally inactive counterparts. However, despite the fact that some of the natural RENs such as coformycins are the strongest known enzyme inhibitors, they have not been proven as effective clinically as anticipated because of the extremely high toxicity associated with their use. Nevertheless, pentostatin (2'-deoxycoformycin) is a conspicuous exception as it is gaining wide attention in recent years as a clinically effective therapeutic agent against leukemias and lymphomas. Many of the recently reported synthetic RENs, by contrast, possess biological activities of their own, in particular against a wide spectrum of cancers and viruses with little toxicity to the host cells, and thus hold considerable promise as chemotherapeutic agents. The promising preliminary in vitro data concerning the effects of RENs on human cancers, in particular prostate and breast cancer cells, support their further pursuit in animal and clinical studies. RENs also carry promise against many viral infections belonging to the families of hepatitis, herpes, and respiratory infections, most notable being the hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C (HCV), and the West Nile (WNV) viruses.