Zafar H, Anis R, Hafeez S, Wahab AT, Khan MA, Basha FZ, Maslennikov I, Choudhary MI. Identification of Non-steroidal Aromatase Inhibitors via In silico and In vitro Studies.
Med Chem 2023;
19:996-1001. [PMID:
37005533 DOI:
10.2174/1573406419666230330082426]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2022] [Revised: 01/25/2023] [Accepted: 01/31/2023] [Indexed: 04/04/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION
Breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting women worldwide, including Pakistan. More than half of breast cancer patients have hormone-dependent breast cancer, which is developed due to the over-production of estrogen (the main hormone in breast cancer).
METHOD
The biosynthesis of estrogen is catalyzed by the aromatase enzyme, which thus serves as a target for the treatment of breast cancer. During the current study, biochemical, computational, and STD-NMR methods were employed to identify new aromatase inhibitors. A series of phenyl-3- butene-2-one derivatives 1-9 were synthesized and evaluated for human placental aromatase inhibitory activity. Among them, four compounds 2, 3, 4, and 8 showed a moderate to weak inhibitory activity (IC50 = 22.6 - 47.9 µM), as compared to standard aromatase inhibitory drugs, letrozole (IC50 = 0.0147 ± 1.45 µM), anastrozole (IC50 = 0.0094 ± 0.91 µM), and exemestane (IC50 = 0.2 ± 0.032 µM). Kinetic studies on two moderate inhibitors, 4 and 8, revealed a competitive- and mixed-type of inhibition, respectively.
RESULT
Docking studies on all active compounds indicated their binding adjacent to the heme group and interaction with Met374, a critical residue of aromatase. STD-NMR further highlighted the interactions of these ligands with the aromatase enzyme.
CONCLUSION
STD-NMR-based epitope mapping indicated close proximity of the alkyl chain followed by an aromatic ring with the receptor (aromatase). These compounds were also found to be non-cytotoxic against human fibroblast cells (BJ cells). Thus, the current study has identified new aromatase inhibitors (compounds 4, and 8) for further pre-clinical and clinical research.
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