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Chen L, Chauhan J, Yap JL, Goodis CC, Wilder PT, Fletcher S. Discovery of N-sulfonylated aminosalicylic acids as dual MCL-1/BCL-xL inhibitors. RSC Med Chem 2023; 14:103-112. [PMID: 36760746 PMCID: PMC9890589 DOI: 10.1039/d2md00277a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2022] [Accepted: 10/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The anti-apoptotic protein MCL-1, which is overexpressed in multiple cancers, is presently a focus for the development of targeted drugs in oncology. We previously discovered inhibitors of MCL-1 based on 1-sulfonylated 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline-6-carboxylic acids ("1,6-THQs"). However, with the nitrogen atom constrained in the bicyclic ring, we were unable to modify the alkyl portion of the tertiary sulfonamide functionality. Moreover, the introduction of additional functional groups onto the benzene ring portion of the THQ bicycle would not be trivial. Therefore, we elected to deconstruct the piperidine-type ring of the 6-carboxy-THQ lead to create a new 4-aminobenzoic acid scaffold. Given its simplicity, this permitted us to introduce diversity at the sulfonamide nitrogen, as well as vary the positions and substituents of the benzene ring. One of our most potent MCL-1 inhibitors, 6e-OH, exhibited a K i of 0.778 μM. Heteronuclear single quantum coherence experiments suggested 6e-OH bound in the canonical BH3-binding groove, with significant perturbations of R263, which forms a salt bridge with MCL-1's pro-apoptotic binding partners, as well as residues in the p2 pocket. Selectivity studies indicated that our compounds are dual inhibitors of MCL-1 and BCL-xL, with 17cd the most potent dual inhibitor: K i = 0.629 μM (MCL-1), 1.67 μM (BCL-xL). Whilst selective inhibitors may be more desirable in certain instances, polypharmacological agents whose additional target(s) address other pathways associated with the disease state, or serve to counter resistance mechanisms to the primary target, may prove particularly effective therapeutics. Since selective MCL-1 inhibition may be thwarted by overexpression of sister anti-apoptotic proteins, including BCL-xL and BCL-2, we believe our work lays a solid foundation towards the development of multi-targeting anti-cancer drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lijia Chen
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy 20 N. Pine St. Baltimore MD 21201 USA
| | - Jay Chauhan
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy 20 N. Pine St. Baltimore MD 21201 USA
| | - Jeremy L Yap
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy 20 N. Pine St. Baltimore MD 21201 USA
| | - Christopher C Goodis
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy 20 N. Pine St. Baltimore MD 21201 USA
| | - Paul T Wilder
- University of Maryland School of Medicine 20 S. Greene St. Baltimore MD 21201 USA
- University of Maryland Greenebaum Cancer Center 20 S. Greene St. Baltimore MD 21201 USA
| | - Steven Fletcher
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy 20 N. Pine St. Baltimore MD 21201 USA
- University of Maryland Greenebaum Cancer Center 20 S. Greene St. Baltimore MD 21201 USA
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Chen L, Chan AM, Wilder PT, Fletcher S. 1-Sulfonylated 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline-6-carboxylic acids as simple, readily-accessible MCL-1 inhibitors. Drug Dev Res 2022; 83:1879-1889. [PMID: 36281026 DOI: 10.1002/ddr.22004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2022] [Revised: 10/02/2022] [Accepted: 10/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
MCL-1 is a member of the BCL-2 family of proteins that regulates the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis. Overexpression of MCL-1 is associated with the development and progression of a range of human cancers, and is also responsible for the onset of resistance to conventional chemotherapies. Although several MCL-1 inhibitors have now advanced to clinical trials, recent suspensions and terminations reveal the urgency with which new inhibitor chemotypes must be discovered. Building on our previous studies of a chiral, isomeric lead, we report the discovery of a new chemotype to inhibit MCL-1: 1-sulfonylated 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline-6-carboxylic acid. The nature of the sulfonyl moiety contributed significantly to the resulting inhibitory ability. For example, transforming a phenylsulfonyl group into a 4-chloro-3,5-dimethylphenoxy)phenyl)sulfonyl moiety elicited more than a 73-fold enhancement in inhibiton of MCL-1, possibly through targeting the p2 pocket in the BH3-binding groove, and so it is anticipated that further structure-activity studies here will lead to continued improvements in binding. It should be underscored that this class of MCL-1 inhibitors is readily accessible in four simple steps, is achiral and offers many avenues for optimization, all factors that are welcomed in the search for safe and effective inhibitors of this driver of cancer cell survival.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lijia Chen
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Alexandria M Chan
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Paul T Wilder
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Steven Fletcher
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.,University of Maryland Greenebaum Cancer Center, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
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Chan AM, Goodis CC, Pommier EG, Fletcher S. Recent applications of covalent chemistries in protein-protein interaction inhibitors. RSC Med Chem 2022; 13:921-928. [PMID: 36092144 PMCID: PMC9384789 DOI: 10.1039/d2md00112h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2022] [Accepted: 05/30/2022] [Indexed: 10/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) are large, often featureless domains whose modulations by small-molecules are challenging. Whilst there are some notable successes, such as the BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax, the requirement for larger ligands to achieve the desired level of potency and selectivity may result in poor "drug-like" properties. Covalent chemistry is presently enjoying a renaissance. In particular, targeted covalent inhibition (TCI), in which a weakly electrophilic "warhead" is installed onto a protein ligand scaffold, is a powerful strategy to develop potent inhibitors of PPIs that are smaller/more drug-like yet have enhanced affinities by virtue of the reinforcing effect on the existing non-covalent interactions by the resulting protein-ligand covalent bond. Furthermore, the covalent bond delivers sustained inhibition, which may translate into significantly reduced therapeutic dosing. Herein, we discuss recent applications of a spectrum of TCIs, as well as covalent screening strategies, in the discovery of more effective inhibitors of PPIs using the HDM2 and BCL-2 protein families as case studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandria M Chan
- University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences 20 N. Pine St Baltimore MD 21201 USA
| | - Christopher C Goodis
- University of Maryland School of Pharmacy PharmD Program, 20 N. Pine St Baltimore MD 21201 USA
| | - Elie G Pommier
- University of Maryland School of Pharmacy PharmD Program, 20 N. Pine St Baltimore MD 21201 USA
| | - Steven Fletcher
- University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences 20 N. Pine St Baltimore MD 21201 USA
- University of Maryland Greenebaum Cancer Center 20 S. Greene St Baltimore MD 21201 USA
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Drennen B, Goodis CC, Bowen N, Yu W, Vickers G, Wilder PT, MacKerell AD, Fletcher S. Scaffold hopping from indoles to indazoles yields dual MCL-1/BCL-2 inhibitors from MCL-1 selective leads. RSC Med Chem 2022; 13:963-969. [PMID: 36092148 PMCID: PMC9384788 DOI: 10.1039/d2md00095d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2022] [Accepted: 05/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Overexpression of the anti-apoptotic BCL-2 proteins is associated with the development and progression of a range of cancers. Venetoclax, an FDA-approved BCL-2 inhibitor, is fast becoming the standard-of-care for acute myeloid leukemia and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. However, the median survival offered by venetoclax is only 18 months (as part of a combination therapy regimen), and one of the primary culprits for this is the concomitant upregulation of sister anti-apoptotic proteins, in particular MCL-1 (and BCL-xL), which provides an escape route that manifests as venetoclax resistance. Since inhibition of BCL-xL leads to thrombocytopenia, we believe that a dual MCL-1/BCL-2 inhibitor may provide an enhanced therapeutic effect relative to a selective BCL-2 inhibitor. Beginning with a carboxylic acid-containing literature compound that is a potent inhibitor of MCL-1 and a moderate inhibitor of BCL-2, we herein describe our efforts to develop dual inhibitors of MCL-1 and BCL-2 by scaffold hopping from an indole core to an indazole framework. Subsequently, further elaboration of our novel N2-substituted, indazole-3-carboxylic acid lead into a family of indazole-3-acylsulfonamides resulted in improved inhibition of both MCL-1 and BCL-2, possibly through occupation of the p4 pocket, with minimal or no inhibition of BCL-xL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brandon Drennen
- University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences 20 N. Pine St. Baltimore MD 21201 USA
| | - Christopher C. Goodis
- University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences20 N. Pine St.BaltimoreMD 21201USA
| | - Nathan Bowen
- Department of Chemistry, Cardiff UniversityCF10 3ATUK
| | - Wenbo Yu
- University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences 20 N. Pine St. Baltimore MD 21201 USA
| | | | - Paul T. Wilder
- University of Maryland School of Medicine20 S. Greene St.BaltimoreMD 21201USA
| | - Alexander D. MacKerell
- University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences20 N. Pine St.BaltimoreMD 21201USA,University of Maryland Greenebaum Cancer Center20 S. Greene St.BaltimoreMD 21201USA
| | - Steven Fletcher
- University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences 20 N. Pine St. Baltimore MD 21201 USA .,University of Maryland Greenebaum Cancer Center 20 S. Greene St. Baltimore MD 21201 USA
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Zhao Q, Xiong SS, Chen C, Zhu HP, Xie X, Peng C, He G, Han B. Discovery of spirooxindole-derived small-molecule compounds as novel HDAC/MDM2 dual inhibitors and investigation of their anticancer activity. Front Oncol 2022; 12:972372. [PMID: 35992773 PMCID: PMC9386376 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.972372] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2022] [Accepted: 07/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Simultaneous inhibition of more than one target is considered to be a novel strategy in cancer therapy. Owing to the importance of histone deacetylases (HDACs) and p53-murine double minute 2 (MDM2) interaction in tumor development and their synergistic effects, a series of MDM2/HDAC bifunctional small-molecule inhibitors were rationally designed and synthesized by incorporating an HDAC pharmacophore into spirooxindole skeletons. These compounds exhibited good inhibitory activities against both targets. In particular, compound 11b was demonstrated to be most potent for MDM2 and HDAC, reaching the enzyme inhibition of 68% and 79%, respectively. Compound 11b also showed efficient antiproliferative activity towards MCF-7 cells with better potency than the reference drug SAHA and Nutlin-3. Furthermore, western blot analysis revealed that compound 11b increased the expression of p53 and Ac-H4 in MCF-7 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Our results indicate that dual inhibition of HDAC and MDM2 may provide a novel and efficient strategy for the discovery of antitumor drug in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qian Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
| | - Shan-Shan Xiong
- Department of Dermatology and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Can Chen
- School of Pharmacy, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China
- The First Affiliated Hospital, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China
| | - Hong-Ping Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
- Antibiotics Research and Re-evaluation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Industrial Institute of Antibiotics, Chengdu University, Chengdu, China
| | - Xin Xie
- State Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
| | - Cheng Peng
- State Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
| | - Gu He
- Department of Dermatology and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Bo Han
- State Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
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Liu Q, Sheng L, Liu YY, Gao T, Wang H, Liu Y, Cao A. A potential inhibitor of MDM2 by restoring the native conformation of the p53 α-helical peptide on gold nanoparticles. ChemMedChem 2022; 17:e202100623. [PMID: 35037401 DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.202100623] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2021] [Revised: 11/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Many efforts have been made to develop inhibitors of MDM2 as potential drugs for cancer therapy. In this work, we use our previous developed conformational engineering technique to stabilize the binding conformation of the p53 transcription activation domain (TAD) peptide on gold NPs (AuNPs), and create an AuNP-based anti-MDM2 artificial antibody, denoted as Goldbody, that specifically binds MDM2. Though the free TAD peptide is unstructured, circular dichroism spectra confirm that its α-helical conformation in the original p53 protein is restored on the anti-MDM2 Goldbody, and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) experiments confirm that there is strong specific interaction between the anti-MDM2 Goldbody and MDM2, demonstrating the anti-MDM2 Goldbody as a potential inhibitor of MDM2. This work demonstrates that the conformational engineering technique is not limited to the antigen-antibody systems, but can also be applied more widely in other protein-protein interfaces to create more and more artificial proteins for various biomedical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qi Liu
- Shanghai University, Institute of Nanochemistry and Nanobiology, CHINA
| | - Lingjie Sheng
- Shanghai University, Institute of Nanochemistry and Nanobiology, CHINA
| | - Yuan-Yuan Liu
- Shanghai University, Institute of Nanochemistry and Nanobiology, CHINA
| | - Tiange Gao
- Shanghai University, Institute of Nanochemistry and Nanobiology, CHINA
| | - Haifang Wang
- Shanghai University, Institute of Nanochemistry and Nanobiology, CHINA
| | - Yuanfang Liu
- Peking University, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, CHINA
| | - Aoneng Cao
- Shanghai University, Institute of Nanochemistry and Nanobiology, No.99 Shangda Rd. Rm201, Bldg. E, 200444, Shanghai, CHINA
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