1
|
Deng H, Han Y, Liu L, Zhang H, Liu D, Wen J, Huang M, Zhao L. Targeting Myeloid Leukemia-1 in Cancer Therapy: Advances and Directions. J Med Chem 2024; 67:5963-5998. [PMID: 38597264 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.3c01998] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/11/2024]
Abstract
As a tripartite cell death switch, B-cell lymphoma protein 2 (Bcl-2) family members precisely regulate the endogenous apoptosis pathway in response to various cell signal stresses through protein-protein interactions. Myeloid leukemia-1 (Mcl-1), a key anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family member, is positioned downstream in the endogenous apoptotic pathway and plays a central role in regulating mitochondrial function. Mcl-1 is highly expressed in a variety of hematological malignancies and solid tumors, contributing to tumorigenesis, poor prognosis, and chemoresistance, making it an attractive target for cancer treatment. This Perspective aims to discuss the mechanism by which Mcl-1 regulates apoptosis and non-apoptotic functions in cancer cells and to outline the discovery and optimization process of potent Mcl-1 modulators. In addition, we summarize the structural characteristics of potent inhibitors that bind to Mcl-1 through multiple co-crystal structures and analyze the cardiotoxicity caused by current Mcl-1 inhibitors, providing prospects for rational targeting of Mcl-1.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hongguang Deng
- Key Laboratory of Structure-Based Drugs Design & Discovery of Ministry of Education, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China
| | - Yu Han
- Key Laboratory of Structure-Based Drugs Design & Discovery of Ministry of Education, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China
| | - Liang Liu
- Key Laboratory of Structure-Based Drugs Design & Discovery of Ministry of Education, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China
| | - Hong Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Structure-Based Drugs Design & Discovery of Ministry of Education, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China
| | - Dan Liu
- Key Laboratory of Structure-Based Drugs Design & Discovery of Ministry of Education, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China
| | - Jiachen Wen
- Key Laboratory of Structure-Based Drugs Design & Discovery of Ministry of Education, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China
| | - Min Huang
- Key Laboratory of Structure-Based Drugs Design & Discovery of Ministry of Education, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China
| | - Linxiang Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Structure-Based Drugs Design & Discovery of Ministry of Education, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Gong Q, Wang H, Zhou M, Zhou L, Wang R, Li Y. B-cell lymphoma-2 family proteins in the crosshairs: Small molecule inhibitors and activators for cancer therapy. Med Res Rev 2024; 44:707-737. [PMID: 37983840 DOI: 10.1002/med.21999] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Revised: 10/31/2023] [Accepted: 11/02/2023] [Indexed: 11/22/2023]
Abstract
The B-cell lymphoma-2 (BCL-2) family of proteins plays a crucial role in the regulation of apoptosis, offering a dual mechanism for its control. Numerous studies have established a strong association between gene disorders of these proteins and the proliferation of diverse cancer cell types. Consequently, the identification and development of drugs targeting BCL-2 family proteins have emerged as a prominent area in antitumor therapy. Over the last two decades, several small-molecules have been designed to modulate the protein-protein interactions between anti- and proapoptotic BCL-2 proteins, effectively suppressing tumor growth and metastasis in vivo. The primary focus of research has been on developing BCL-2 homology 3 (BH3) mimetics to target antiapoptotic BCL-2 proteins, thereby competitively releasing proapoptotic BCL-2 proteins and restoring the blocked intrinsic apoptotic program. Additionally, for proapoptotic BCL-2 proteins, exogenous small molecules have been explored to activate cell apoptosis by directly interacting with executioner proteins such as BCL-2-associated X protein (BAX) or BCL-2 homologous antagonist/killer protein (BAK). In this comprehensive review, we summarize the inhibitors and activators (sensitizers) of BCL-2 family proteins developed over the past decades, highlighting their discovery, optimization, preclinical and clinical status, and providing an overall landscape of drug development targeting these proteins for therapeutic purposes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Qineng Gong
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
| | - Haojie Wang
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
| | - Mi Zhou
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
| | - Lu Zhou
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
| | - Renxiao Wang
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
| | - Yan Li
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Li Y, Zhang Z, Wang R. HydraMap v.2: Prediction of Hydration Sites and Desolvation Energy with Refined Statistical Potentials. J Chem Inf Model 2023; 63:4749-4761. [PMID: 37433022 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.3c00408] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/13/2023]
Abstract
The complex network of water molecules within the binding pocket of a target protein undergoes alterations upon ligand binding, presenting a significant challenge for conventional molecular modeling methods to accurately characterize and compute the associated energy changes. We have previously developed an empirical method, HydraMap (J. Chem. Inf. Model. 2020, 60, 4359-4375), which employs statistical potentials to predict hydration sites and compute desolvation energy, achieving a reasonable balance between accuracy and speed. In this work, we present its improved version, namely, HydraMap v.2. We updated the statistical potentials for protein-water interactions through an analysis of 17 042 crystal protein structures. We also introduced a new feature to evaluate ligand-water interactions by incorporating statistical potentials derived from the solvated structures of 9878 small organic molecules produced by molecular dynamics simulations. By combining these potentials, HydraMap v.2 can predict and compare the hydration sites in a binding pocket before and after ligand binding, identifying key water molecules involved in the binding process, such as those forming bridging hydrogen bonds and unstable ones that can be replaced. We demonstrated the application of HydraMap v.2 in explaining the structure-activity relationship of a panel of MCL-1 inhibitors. The desolvation energies calculated by summing the energy change of each hydration site before and after ligand binding showed good correlation with known ligand binding affinities on six target proteins. In conclusion, HydraMap v.2 offers a cost-effective solution for estimating the desolvation energy during protein-ligand binding and also is practical in guiding lead optimization in structure-based drug discovery.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yan Li
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, 826 Zhangheng Road, Shanghai 201203, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhe Zhang
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, 826 Zhangheng Road, Shanghai 201203, People's Republic of China
| | - Renxiao Wang
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, 826 Zhangheng Road, Shanghai 201203, People's Republic of China
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Kilbile JT, Tamboli Y, Gadekar SS, Islam I, Supuran CT, Sapkal SB. An insight into the biological activity and structure-based drug design attributes of sulfonylpiperazine derivatives. J Mol Struct 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.molstruc.2023.134971] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
|
5
|
Deng H, Huang M, Liu H, Zhang H, Liu L, Gao B, Li X, Li J, Niu Q, Zhang Z, Luan S, Zhang J, Jing Y, Liu D, Zhao L. Development of a series of novel Mcl-1 inhibitors bearing an indole carboxylic acid moiety. Bioorg Chem 2022; 127:106018. [PMID: 35901526 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioorg.2022.106018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2022] [Revised: 06/03/2022] [Accepted: 07/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The B cell lymphoma protein 2 (Bcl-2) family proteins regulate cell apoptosis by participating in the endogenous apoptosis pathway. As an important anti-apoptotic protein, Myeloid cell leukemia 1 (Mcl-1) is overexpressed in a variety of tumor cells, and targeting this protein has been a promising strategy for cancer therapy. Herein, based on the 1H-indole-5-carboxylic acid structure previously discovered, we have developed a series of novel compounds with increased affinities and selectivity toward Mcl-1 through structure-based drug design. Among those compounds, 26 exerted relatively better affinity and selectivity for Mcl-1 with moderate inhibition in HL-60 cells. Mechanism studies showed that compound 26 could induce cancer cells apoptosis in an Mcl-1-dependent manner. It also exhibited good microsomal and plasma stability with acceptable pharmacokinetics profiles. Furthermore, treatment with target compound in a 4T1 xenograft mouse model significantly suppressed the tumor growth. Overall, the small molecule described herein represents a promising Mcl-1 inhibitor for further study.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hongguang Deng
- Key Laboratory of Structure-Based Drugs Design & Discovery of Ministry of Education, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China
| | - Min Huang
- Key Laboratory of Structure-Based Drugs Design & Discovery of Ministry of Education, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China
| | - Hui Liu
- Wuya College of Innovation, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China; Liaoning Key Laboratory of Targeting Drugs for Hematological Malignancies, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China
| | - Hong Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Structure-Based Drugs Design & Discovery of Ministry of Education, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China
| | - Liang Liu
- Key Laboratory of Structure-Based Drugs Design & Discovery of Ministry of Education, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China
| | - Bensheng Gao
- Key Laboratory of Structure-Based Drugs Design & Discovery of Ministry of Education, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China
| | - Xianlu Li
- Wuya College of Innovation, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China
| | - Jinbo Li
- Wuya College of Innovation, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China
| | - Qun Niu
- Key Laboratory of Structure-Based Drugs Design & Discovery of Ministry of Education, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China
| | - Zhenwei Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Structure-Based Drugs Design & Discovery of Ministry of Education, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China
| | - Shenglin Luan
- Key Laboratory of Structure-Based Drugs Design & Discovery of Ministry of Education, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China
| | - Jingyi Zhang
- Wuya College of Innovation, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China; Liaoning Key Laboratory of Targeting Drugs for Hematological Malignancies, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China
| | - Yongkui Jing
- Wuya College of Innovation, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China; Liaoning Key Laboratory of Targeting Drugs for Hematological Malignancies, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China
| | - Dan Liu
- Key Laboratory of Structure-Based Drugs Design & Discovery of Ministry of Education, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China.
| | - Linxiang Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Structure-Based Drugs Design & Discovery of Ministry of Education, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Tang Q, Peng T, Hu J, Zhang T, Chen P, Chen D, Wang Y, Chen L, Tong L, Chen Y, Xie H, Liang G. Discovery of N-(3-bromo-1H-indol-5-yl)-quinazolin-4-amine as an effective molecular skeleton to develop reversible/irreversible pan-HER inhibitors. Eur J Med Chem 2022; 233:114249. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2022.114249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2021] [Revised: 02/26/2022] [Accepted: 02/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
|