[4-(Imidazol-1-yl)thiazol-2-yl]phenylamines. A Novel Class of Highly Potent Colchicine Site Binding Tubulin Inhibitors: Synthesis and Cytotoxic Activity on Selected Human Cancer Cell Lines

Design, synthesis and mechanistic study of new benzenesulfonamide derivatives as anticancer and antimicrobial agents via carbonic anhydrase IX inhibition

Changes in gene expression cause uncontrolled cell proliferation and consequently tumor hypoxia. The tumor cells shift their metabolism to anaerobic glycolysis with a significant modification in pH. Therefore, an over expression of carbonic anhydrase IX (CA IX) genes was detected in many solid tumors. Accordingly, selective inhibition of CA IX can be a useful target for discovering novel antiproliferative agents. The present study described the synthesis of new aryl thiazolone–benzenesulfonamides 4a–j as well as their carbonic anhydrase IX inhibitory effect. All the designed derivatives were evaluated for their anti-proliferative activity against triple-negative breast cancer cell line (as MDA-MB-231) and another breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) in addition to normal breast cell line MCF-10A. Compounds 4b–c, 4e, 4g–h showed significant inhibitory effect against both cancer cell lines at concentration ranges from 1.52–6.31 μM, with a high selectivity against breast cancer cell lines ranges from 5.5 to 17.5 times. Moreover, three sulfonamides derivatives 4e, 4g and 4h showed excellent enzyme inhibition against CA IX with IC₅₀ 10.93–25.06 nM and against CA II with IC₅₀ 1.55–3.92 μM that revealed their remarkable selectivity for CA IX over CA II. Additionally, 4e was able to induce apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 with a significant increase in the annexin V-FITC percent by 22 fold as compared with control. Cellular uptake on MDA-MB-231 cell lines were carried out using HPLC method on the three active compounds (4e, 4g and 4h). On the other hand inhibition of one or more CAs present in bacteria was reported to interfere with bacterial growth. So, the new benzenesulfonamides were evaluated against their antibacterial and anti-biofilm activities. Analogues 4e, 4g and 4h exhibited significant inhibition at 50 μg mL⁻¹ concentration with 80.69%, 69.74% and 68.30% against S. aureus compared to the positive control CIP which was 99.2%, while compounds 4g and 4h showed potential anti-biofilm inhibition 79.46% and 77.52% against K. pneumonia. Furthermore, the designed compounds were docked into CA IX (human) protein (PDB ID: 5FL6) and molecular modeling studies revealed favorable binding interactions for the active inhibitors. Finally, the predictive ADMET studies showed that, compounds 4e, 4g and 4h possessed promising pharmacokinetic properties.

New benzenesulfonamide derivatives as anticancer and antimicrobial agents via CA IX inhibition.

Thiazole in the targeted anticancer drug discovery

Cancer is known as one of the main causes of death in the world; and many compounds have been synthesized to date with potential use in cancer therapy. Thiazole is a versatile heterocycle, found in the structure of many drugs in use as well as anticancer agents. This review provides an overview of recent advances in thiazole-bearing compounds as anticancer agents with particular emphasis on their mechanism of action in cancerous cells. Chemical designs, structure–activity relationships and relevant preclinical properties have been comprehensively described.

Efficient construction of C–N and C–S bonds in 2-iminothiazoles via cascade reaction of enaminones with potassium thiocyanate

Regioselective cascade reactions have been developed by using enaminones and potassium thiocyanate, offering a novel protocol for the synthesis of thiazoles from enaminones.

Access to Thiazole via Copper-Catalyzed [3+1+1]-Type Condensation Reaction under Redox-Neutral Conditions

A new strategy for thiazoles via copper-catalyzed [3+1+1]-type condensation reaction from oximes, anhydrides and potassiumthiocyanate (KSCN) is developed herein. The transformation has good functional group tolerance and various thiazoles were formed smoothly in good to excellent yields under mild reaction conditions. This process involves copper-catalyzed N-O/C-S bond cleavages, activation of vinyl sp² C-H bond, and C-S/C-N bond formations which are under redox-neutral conditions as well as operational simplicity.

Synthesis of 4-(thiazol-2-ylamino)-benzenesulfonamides with carbonic anhydrase I, II and IX inhibitory activity and cytotoxic effects against breast cancer cell lines

A series of 4-(thiazol-2-ylamino)-benzenesulfonamides was synthesized and screened for their carbonic anhydrase (CA, EC 4.2.1.1) inhibitory and cytotoxic activity on human breast cancer cell line MCF-7. Human (h) CA isoforms I, II and IX were included in the study. The new sulfonamides showed excellent inhibition of all three isoforms, with KIs in the range of 0.84-702nM against hCA I, of 0.41-288nM against hCA II and of 5.6-29.2 against the tumor-associated hCA IX, a validated anti-tumor target, with a sulfonamide (SLC-0111) in Phase I clinical trials for the treatment of hypoxic, metastatic solid tumors overexpressing CA IX. The new compounds showed micromolar inhibition of growth efficacy against breast cancer MCF-7 cell lines.

4-Thiazolidinones in heterocyclic synthesis: synthesis of novel enaminones, azolopyrimidines and 2-arylimino-5-arylidene-4-thiazolidinones

The 4-thiazolidinones 3a–d were used as a key intermediates for the synthesis of 2-arylimino-5-arylidene-4-thiazolidinones derivatives 7a–pvia nucleophilic addition reactions with the arylidene malononitrile. Moreover the 4-thiazolidinones 3a and 3c condensed with the DMF-DMA to form the corresponding enamines 8 and 9 depending on the reaction conditions. Otherwise the 4-thiazolidinone 3b reacts regioselectively with DMF-DMA to afford the enaminones 10 and 11, respectively. The latter reacts with many heterocyclic amines affording polyfunctionally substituted fused pyrimidine derivatives 13–18. The enamine 8b was also reacted with the 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole to afford the acyclic product 19, which could not be further cyclized to the corresponding tricyclic system 20. Moreover the 4-thiazolidinone 3c reacted with the benzenediazonium chloride to afford the arylhydrazones 12. The X-ray single crystal technique was employed in this study for structure elucidation and Z/E potential isomerism configuration determination. The X-ray crystallographic analyses of eight products could be obtained, thus establishing with certainty the structures proposed in this work.

Cell cycle-dependent cytotoxicity and mitotic spindle checkpoint dependency of investigational and approved antimitotic agents

The mitotic spindle checkpoint (SPC) is a highly regulated mechanism in eukaryotic cells that ensures the even distribution of the duplicated genome between daughter cells. Malfunction of the SPC or deregulated expression of SPC regulatory proteins is frequently associated with a poor response to chemotherapeutic agents. We investigated various approved and investigational mitosis-specific agents, including spindle poisons, an Eg5 kinesin inhibitor, inhibitors of polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1) or Aurora-B kinase, a benzamide class HDAC inhibitor and compounds identified in a chemical genetics screen for their cell cycle-dependent cytotoxicities and for their activities toward SPC deficient (HT29, Caco-2, T47D) and SPC proficient human cell lines (A2780, HCT116, SW480). Using the RKOp27 cell system that allows inducible cell cycle arrest by the tunable expression of the cdk inhibitor p27Kip1, we found an exquisite proliferation-dependent cytotoxicity for all compounds except the aurora kinase inhibitor VX-680. Cytotoxicity of the antimitotic compounds was in general higher on SPC proficient than on deficient cells. We found two exceptions, a benzamide HDAC inhibitor which was effective on SPC proficient and deficient cells and an investigational compound, BYK72767, with a yet unknown mode of action. The degree of increased mitotic index was no predictor of cytotoxicity of the compounds nor was the phosphorylation of BubR1. However, SPC deficient cell lines were able to tolerate mitotic arrest for far longer times than SPC proficient cells. We conclude that targeting of SPC deficient cancers with novel antimitotic principles remains a challenge but certain drug classes may be equally efficacious regardless of SPC status.

2-Arylamino-4-amino-5-aroylthiazoles. "One-pot" synthesis and biological evaluation of a new class of inhibitors of tubulin polymerization

The essential role of microtubules in mitosis makes them a major target of compounds useful for cancer therapy. In our search for potent antitumor agents, a novel series of 2-anilino-4-amino-5-aroylthiazoles was synthesized and evaluated for antiproliferative activity, inhibition of tubulin polymerization, and cell cycle effects. SAR was elucidated with various substitutions on the phenylamino and aroyl moiety at the 2- and 5-positions, respectively, of the 4-aminothiazole skeleton. Tumor cell exposure to several of these compounds led to the arrest of HeLa cells in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle and induction of apoptosis.

Cell type-- dependent effects of Polo-like kinase 1 inhibition compared with targeted polo box interference in cancer cell lines

Multiple critical roles within mitosis have been assigned to Polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1), making it an attractive candidate for mitotic targeting of cancer cells. Plk1 contains two domains amenable for targeted interference: a kinase domain responsible for the enzymatic function and a polo box domain necessary for substrate recognition and subcellular localization. Here, we compare two approaches for targeted interference with Plk1 function, either by a Plk1 small-molecule enzyme inhibitor or by inducible overexpression of the polo box in human cancer cell lines. Inducible expression of the Plk1 polo box resulted in growth inhibition of RKOp27 human colon adenocarcinoma cells without obvious signs of mitotic abnormalities. A Plk1 kinase inhibitor in the same cell line arrested cells in mitosis with subsequent onset of apoptosis. Similarly, PC-3 human prostate cancer cells were growth inhibited on expression of the polo box. Prolonged expression of the polo box in these cells resulted in the occurrence of binucleated or multinucleated cells. In contrast, U2OS human osteosarcoma cells responded to overexpression of the polo box with a massive mitotic accumulation coinciding with the onset of apoptosis. Comparison of spindle formation revealed very similar mitotic abnormalities in polo box-overexpressing U2OS cells compared with U2OS cells treated with the Plk1 kinase inhibitor. We conclude that interference with polo box function and inhibition of Plk1 kinase activity can exert very similar phenotypic effects in certain cell lines but highly contrasting effects in others. This may point to subtle differences in the molecular machinery of mitosis regulation in cancer cells.