Ester bonds in prodrugs.
A recent study challenges the oft-held notion that ester bonds in prodrug molecules are cleaved rapidly and completely inside cells by endogenous, nonspecific esterases. Structure-activity relationship studies on acylated sugars reveal that regioisomeric compounds display disparate biological activity, suggesting that ester bonds can persist in a cellular context.
Lavis
Luke D
LD
Janelia Farm Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 19700 Helix Drive, Ashburn, Virginia 20147, USA. lavisl@janelia.hhmi.org
D004952:Esters / Q000737:chemistry*; D011355:Prodrugs / Q000737:chemistry*; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
D004952:Esters; D011355:Prodrugs