Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of a novel class of anticancer agents: anthracenylisoxazole lexitropsin conjugates

Syntheses and crystal structures of a nitro–anthracene–isoxazole and its oxidation product

The title compounds arose as unexpected by-products of an iodination reaction: in each case the fused-ring and isoxazole planes are almost perpendicular to each other.

The syntheses and structures of an unexpected by-product from an iodination reaction, namely, ethyl 5-methyl-3-(10-nitro­anthracen-9-yl)isoxazole-4-carb­oxy­l­ate, C₂₁H₁₆N₂O₅, (I), and its oxidation product, ethyl 3-(9-hy­droxy-10-oxo-9,10-di­hydro­anthracen-9-yl)-5-methyl­isoxazole-4-carboxyl­ate, C₂₁H₁₇NO₅ (V) are described. Compound (I) crystallizes with two mol­ecules in the asymmetric unit in which the dihedral angles between the anthracene fused-ring systems and isoxazole ring mean planes are 88.67 (16) and 85.64 (16)°; both mol­ecules feature a disordered nitro group. In (V), which crystallizes with one mol­ecule in the asymmetric unit, the equivalent dihedral angle between the almost planar anthrone ring system (r.m.s. deviation = 0.029 Å) and the pendant isoxazole ring is 89.65 (5)°. In the crystal of (I), the mol­ecules are linked by weak C—H⋯O inter­actions into a three-dimensional network and in the extended structure of (V), inversion dimers linked by pairwise O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds generate R₂²(14) loops.

Ethyl 5-methyl-3-[11-(pyridin-2-yl)-6,11-di-hydro-6,11-ep-oxy-dibenzo[b,e]oxepin-6-yl]isoxazole-4-carboxylate: a bicyclic acetal from the rearrangement of an anthracenyl isoxazole

The title compound, C26H20N2O5, is a rearrangement product of an o-pyridinyl anthracenyl isoxazole ester. It features a bicyclic acetal structure, which has two extended almost co-planar ring systems, which subtend a fold angle of 102.17 (5)°. In the crystal, the mol-ecules are closely knitted together through C-H⋯N and C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds and form chains of alternating enanti-omers propagating along the c-axis direction.

10-N-heterocylic aryl-isoxazole-amides (AIMs) have robust anti-tumor activity against breast and brain cancer cell lines and useful fluorescence properties

A novel series of anthracenyl-isoxazole amide (AIM) antitumor agents containing N-heterocycles in the 10 position (N-het) were synthesized using palladium cross-coupling. The unique steric environment of the N-het-AIMs required individual optimization in each case. Lanthanide mediated double activation was used to couple the dimethylamino pyrrole moiety, required for antitumor action. Robust antitumor activity was observed against breast and brain cancer cell lines. The compounds were docked with the c-myc oncogene promoter sequence, which adopts a G4 quadruplex DNA conformation, and represents the working hypothesis for biological action. The N-het-AIMs have useful fluorescence properties, allowing for observation of their distribution within tumor cells.

Therapeutic Inhibition of Myc in Cancer. Structural Bases and Computer-Aided Drug Discovery Approaches

Myc (avian myelocytomatosis viral oncogene homolog) represents one of the most sought after drug targets in cancer. Myc transcription factor is an essential regulator of cell growth, but in most cancers it is overexpressed and associated with treatment-resistance and lethal outcomes. Over 40 years of research and drug development efforts did not yield a clinically useful Myc inhibitor. Drugging the "undruggable" is problematic, as Myc inactivation may negatively impact its physiological functions. Moreover, Myc is a disordered protein that lacks effective binding pockets on its surface. It is well established that the Myc function is dependent on dimerization with its obligate partner, Max (Myc associated factor X), which together form a functional DNA-binding domain to activate genomic targets. Herein, we provide an overview of the knowledge accumulated to date on Myc regulation and function, its critical role in cancer, and summarize various strategies that are employed to tackle Myc-driven malignant transformation. We focus on important structure-function relationships of Myc with its interactome, elaborating structural determinants of Myc-Max dimer formation and DNA recognition exploited for therapeutic inhibition. Chronological development of small-molecule Myc-Max prototype inhibitors and corresponding binding sites are comprehensively reviewed and particular emphasis is placed on modern computational drug design methods. On the outlook, technological advancements may soon provide the so long-awaited Myc-Max clinical candidate.

Crystal structure of the major quadruplex formed in the promoter region of the human c-MYC oncogene

The c-MYC oncogene mediates multiple tumor cell survival pathways and is dysregulated or overexpressed in the majority of human cancers. The NHE III1 region of the c-MYC promoter forms a DNA quadruplex. Stabilization of this structure with small molecules has been shown to reduce expression of c-MYC, and targeting the c-MYC quadruplex has become an emerging strategy for development of antitumor compounds. Previous solution NMR studies of the c-MYC quadruplex have assigned the major conformer and topology of this important target, however, regions outside the G-quartet core were not as well-defined. Here, we report a high-resolution crystal structure (2.35 Å) of the major quadruplex formed in the NHE III1 region of the c-MYC promoter. The crystal structure is in general agreement with the solution NMR structure, however, key differences are observed in the position of nucleotides outside the G-quartet core. The crystal structure provides an alternative model that, along with comparisons to other reported quadruplex crystal structures, will be important to the rational design of selective compounds. This work will aid in development of ligands to target the c-MYC promoter quadruplex with the goal of creating novel anticancer therapies.

AIMing towards improved antitumor efficacy

Using the structure-activity relationship emerging from previous Letter, and guided by pharmacokinetic properties, new AIMs have been prepared with both improved efficacy against human glioblastoma cells and cell permeability as determined by fluorescent confocal microscopy. We present our first unambiguous evidence for telomeric G4-forming oligonucleotide anisotropy by NMR resulting from direct interaction with AIMs, which is consistent with both our G4 melting studies by CD, and our working hypothesis. Finally, we show that AIMs induce apoptosis in SNB-19 cells.

Ethyl 3-(9-chloro-10-oxo-9,10-di-hydro-anthracen-9-yl)-5-methyl-isoxazole-4-carboxyl-ate

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, C21H16ClNO4, contains two independent mol-ecules (A and B), each adopting a conformation wherein the isoxazole ring is roughly orthogonal to the anthrone ring. The dihedral angle between the mean plane of the isoxazole (all atoms) and the mean plane of the anthrone (all atoms) is 88.48 (3)° in one mol-ecule and 89.92 (4)° in the other. The ester is almost coplanar with the isoxazole ring, with mean-plane dihedral angles of 2.48 (15) and 8.62 (5)°. In both mol-ecules, the distance between the ester carbonyl O atom and the anthrone ketone C atom is about 3.3 Å. The anthrone ring is virtually planar (r.m.s. deviations of 0.070 and 0.065 Å) and adopts a shallow boat conformation in each mol-ecule, as evidenced by the sum of the six intra-B-ring torsion angles [41.43 (15) and 34.38 (15)° for molecules A and B, respectively]. The closest separation between the benzene moieties of anthrones A and B is 5.1162 (7) Å, with an angle of 57.98 (5)°, consistent with an edge-to-face π-stacking inter-action. In the crystal, weak C-H⋯O and C-H⋯N inter-actions link the mol-ecules, forming a three-dimensional network.

Fluorescent probes of the isoxazole-dihydropyridine scaffold: MDR-1 binding and homology model

Isoxazole-1,4-dihydropyridines (IDHPs) were tethered to fluorescent moieties using double activation via a lanthanide assisted Weinreb amidation. IDHP-fluorophore conjugate 3c exhibits the highest binding to date for IDHPs at the multidrug-resistance transporter (MDR-1), and IDHP-fluorophore conjugates 3c and 7 distribute selectively in SH-SY5Y cells. A homology model for IDHP binding at MDR-1 is presented which represents our current working hypothesis.

Ethyl 3-(10-bromo-anthracen-9-yl)-5-methyl-1,2-oxazole-4-carboxyl-ate

In the title compound, C21H16BrNO3, the mean planes of the anthracene tricycle and isoxazole ring are inclined to each other at a dihedral angle of 72.12 (7)°. The carb-oxy group is slightly out of the isoxazole mean plane, with a maximum deviation of 0.070 (5) Å for the carbonyl O atom. In the crystal, pairs of weak C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the mol-ecules into dimers, and weak C-H⋯N inter-actions further link these dimers into corrugated layers parallel to the bc plane.

Improved synthesis of 3-aryl isoxazoles containing fused aromatic rings

A critical comparison of methods to prepare sterically hindered 3-aryl isoxazoles containing fused aromatic rings using the nitrile oxide cycloaddition (NOC) reveal that modification of the method of Bode, Hachisu, Matsuura, and Suzuki (BHMS), utilizing either triethylamine as base or sodium enolates of the diketone, ketoester, and ketoamide dipolarophiles, respectively, was the method of choice for this transformation.

Experimental and DFT studies on the vibrational and electronic spectra of 9-anthracenemethanol

Vibrational spectral measurements were made for 9-anthracenemethanol. Optimized geometrical structure and harmonic vibration frequencies were computed based on ab initio and density functional theory B3LYP methods using 6-311G(**) and LANL2DZ basis sets. The equilibrium geometries got from all of the methods and basis were compared with X-ray diffraction results. The IR and UV-vis spectra of the title compound were computed using all of the methods and choose the most appropriate way to discuss. And the absorption spectra were calculated both in gas phase and in CH(3)CH(2)OH and CH(3)CN solution. The calculated results matched well with the experimental values. On the basis, the first excited state electronic transition energy has been calculated using time-dependent density functional theory.

(E)-N-(Anthracen-9-ylmethylidene)-4-nitroaniline

In the title molecule, C₂₁H₁₄N₂O₂, the anthracenyl system is approximately planar [maximum deviation = 0.056 (4) Å] and is oriented at a dihedral angle of 73.6 (1)° with respect to the benzene ring. An intra­molecular C—H⋯N hydrogen bond generates an S(6) ring motif. The crystal packing is stabilized by C—H⋯π and π–π inter­actions [centroid–centroid distances of 3.688 (2), 3.656 (1) and 3.716 (2) Å].

9-(Pent-4-en-yl)anthracene

In the title compound, C(19)H(18), the anthracene system is almost planar, with a maximum deviation of -0.039 (1) Å. The structure is stabilized by C-H⋯π inter-actions. The pentene moiety is not planar and is twisted away from the attached anthracene system with a maximum torsion angle of 91.2 (1)°.

Bis-anthracenyl isoxazolyl amides have enhanced anticancer activity

Dimeric analogs of Anthracenyl Isoxazole Amides (AIMs) (the designation AIM is in honor of the memory of Professor Albert I. Meyers) were prepared and dimer 6 exhibited the highest efficacy to date for this class of anti-tumor compounds against the human glioma Central Nervous System cell line SNB-19.