PSMA Ligands for Radionuclide Imaging and Therapy of Prostate Cancer: Clinical Status.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common malignancy in men worldwide, leading to substantial morbidity and mortality. At present, imaging of PCa has become increasingly important for staging, restaging, and treatment selection. Until recently, choline-based positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) represented the state-of-the-art radionuclide imaging technique for these purposes.

Total synthesis of the monoterpenoid alkaloid (±)-tangutorine.

A novel approach to a formal total synthesis of the monoterpenoid indole alkaloid (±)-tangutorine has been developed starting from an α,β-unsaturated cyclic dehydroamino ester. Synthesis of the rather unusual trans-substituted 2,3-indoloquinolizidine substructure was accomplished via Cu(II)-mediated conjugate addition and organozinc/copper coupling as the key steps, thereby setting the stage for ring-closing metathesis to produce the quinolone substructure. Finally, Bischler-Napieralski cyclization gave rise to the pentacyclic system of (±)-tangutorine thereby realizing a formal synthesis in an overall yield of 5.

A 4-deoxy analogue of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine inhibits heparan sulphate expression and growth factor binding in vitro.

Heparan sulphate (HS) is a long, linear polysaccharide, which has a basic backbone of -beta1-4GlcA-alpha1-4GlcNAc- units. The involvement of HS in many steps of tumourigenesis, including growth and angiogenesis, makes it an appealing target for cancer therapy. To target the biosynthesis of HS by interfering with its chain elongation, a 4-deoxy analogue of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (4-deoxy-GlcNAc) was synthesized.