Synthesis, Radiosynthesis, and Biological Evaluation of New Proteasome Inhibitors in a Tumor Targeting Approach

Proteasome inhibition is a new strategy in cancer therapy. We synthesized three new peptide aldehyde inhibitors linked to the benzamide derivative structure to use their cytotoxic activity against malignant melanoma cells. Of these, 10 displayed the highest cytotoxicity (0.18 ± 0.16 µM). A radiosynthesis of the iodine aldehyde was performed. Its drug biodistribution showed that some selectivity of the benzamide group toward malignant melanoma tissue was conserved.