Antitumor activity of BJ-1207, a 6-amino-2,4,5-trimethylpyridin-3-ol derivative, in human lung cancer

Synthesis of Pyridoxine-Derived Dimethylpyridinols Fused with Aminooxazole, Aminoimidazole, and Aminopyrrole

Described in this paper are studies on the preparation of three classes of dimethylpyridinols derived from pyridoxine fused with aminooxazole, aminoimidazole, and aminopyrrole. The key feature of this synthetic strategy is the manipulation of hydroxymethyl moiety of C(5)-position of the pyridoxine starting material along with the installation of an amino group at C(6)-position. Efficient and practical synthesis for the oxazole- and imidazole-fused targets was accomplished, while the instability of the pyrrole-fused one was observed.

Synthesis and anti-hepatocellular carcinoma activity of aminopyridinol-sorafenib hybrids

Sorafenib is recommended as the primary therapeutic drug for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. To discover a new compound that avoids low response rates and toxic side effects that occur in sorafenib therapy, we designed and synthesized new hybrid compounds of sorafenib and 2,4,5-trimethylpyridin-3-ols. Compound 6 was selected as the best of 24 hybrids that inhibit each of the four Raf kinases. The anti-proliferative activity of 6 in HepG2, Hep3B, and Huh7 cell lines was slightly lower than that of sorafenib. However, in H6c7 and CCD841 normal epithelial cell lines, the cytotoxicity of 6 was much lower than that of sorafenib. In addition, similar to sorafenib, compound 6 inhibited spheroid forming ability of Hep3B cells in vitro and tumour growth in a xenograft tumour model of the chick chorioallantoic membrane implanted with Huh7 cells. Compound 6 may be a promising candidate targeting hepatocellular carcinoma with low toxic side effects on normal cells.

Synthesis and anticancer evaluation of 6-azacyclonol-2,4,6-trimethylpyridin-3-ol derivatives: M3 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor-mediated anticancer activity of a cyclohexyl derivative in androgen-refractory prostate cancer

We recently reported 2,4,5-trimethylpyridin-3-ol with C(6)-azacyclonol, whose code name is BJ-1207, showing a promising anticancer activity by inhibiting NOX-derived ROS in A549 human lung cancer cells. The present study was focused on structural modification of the azacyclonol moiety of BJ-1207 to find a compound with better anticancer activity. Ten new compounds (3A-3J) were prepared and evaluated their inhibitory actions against proliferation of eighteen cancer cell lines as a primary screening. Among the ten derivatives of BJ-1207, the effects of compounds 3A and 3J on DU145 and PC-3, androgen-refractory cancer cell lines (ARPC), were greater than the parent compound, and compound 3A showed better activity than 3J. Antitumor activity of compound 3A was also observed in DU145-xenografted chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) tumor model. In addition, the ligand-based target prediction and molecular docking study using DeepZema® server showed compound 3A was a ligand to M3 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (M3R) which is overexpressed in ARPC. Carbachol, a muscarinic receptor agonist, concentration dependently increased proliferation of DU145 in the absence of serum, and it also activated NADPH oxidase (NOX). The carbachol-induced proliferation and NOX activity was significantly blocked by compounds 3A in a concentration-dependent manner. This finding might become a new milestone in the development of pyridinol-based anti-cancer agents against ARPC.

Inhibition of colitis by ring-modified analogues of 6-acetamido-2,4,5-trimethylpyridin-3-ol

6-Aminopyridin-3-ol scaffold has shown an excellent anti-inflammatory bowel disease activity. Various analogues with the scaffold were synthesized in pursuit of the diversity of side chains tethering on the C(6)-position. Structure-activity relationship among the analogues was investigated to understand the effects of the side chains and their linkers on their anti-inflammatory activities. In this study, structural modification moved beyond side chains on the C(6)-position and reached to pyridine ring itself. It expedited us to synthesize diverse ring-modified analogues of a representative pyridine-3-ol, 6-acetamido-2,4,5-trimethylpyridin-3-ol (9). In the evaluation of compounds on their inhibitory actions against TNF-α-induced adhesion of monocytic cells to colonic epithelial cells, an in vitro model mimicking colon inflammation, the effects of compounds 9, 17, and 19 were greater than tofacitinib, an orally available anti-colitis drug, and compound 17 showed the greatest activity. In addition, TNF-α-induced angiogenesis, which permits more inflammatory cell migration into inflamed tissues, was significantly blocked by compounds 17 and 19 in a concentration-dependent manner. In the comparison of in vivo therapeutic effects of compounds 9, 17, and 19 on dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in mice, compound 17 was the most potent and efficacious, and compound 19 was better than compound 9 which showed a similar degree of inhibitory effect to tofacitinib. Taken together, it seems that either the trimethyl system or the hydroxyl group on the pyridinol ring is essential to the activity. This finding might become a new milestone in the development of pyridinol-based anti-inflammatory bowel disease agents.