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The Role of the Hedgehog Pathway in Cholangiocarcinoma. Cancers (Basel) 2021; 13:cancers13194774. [PMID: 34638259 PMCID: PMC8507550 DOI: 10.3390/cancers13194774] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2021] [Revised: 09/17/2021] [Accepted: 09/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is one of the most refractory malignancies with a high mortality rate. Among all the pathways involved in CCA development, emerging evidence highlights Hedgehog (HH) signaling as a substantial player in CCA-genesis and development. The pro-tumoral function of HH provides potential therapeutic implications, and recently the use of HH inhibitors has paved the way for clinical application in various solid tumors. Targeting HH members, namely Hedgehog ligands, SMO transmembrane protein and GLI transcription factors may thus confer therapeutic options for the improvement of CCA treatment outcome. Abstract Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a poorly treatable type of cancer and, along with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), is the predominant type of primitive liver cancer in adults. The lack of understanding of CCA biology has slowed down the identification of novel targets and the development of effective treatments. While tumors share some general characteristics, detailed knowledge of specific features is essential for the development of effectively tailored therapeutic approaches. The Hedgehog (HH) signaling cascade regulates stemness biology, embryonal development, tissue homeostasis, and cell proliferation and differentiation. Its aberrant activation has been associated with a variety of solid and hematological human malignancies. Several HH-inhibiting compounds have been indeed developed as potential anticancer agents in different types of tumors, with Smoothened and GLI inhibitors showing the most promising results. Beside its well-established function in other tumors, findings regarding the HH signaling in CCA are still controversial. Here we will give an overview of the most important clinical and molecular features of cholangiocarcinoma, and we will discuss the available evidence of the crosstalk between the HH signaling pathway and the cholangiocarcinoma cell biology.
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Galperin I, Dempwolff L, Diederich WE, Lauth M. Inhibiting Hedgehog: An Update on Pharmacological Compounds and Targeting Strategies. J Med Chem 2019; 62:8392-8411. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.9b00188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ilya Galperin
- Center for Tumor and Immune Biology (ZTI), Philipps University Marburg, Hans-Meerwein-Straße 3, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Lukas Dempwolff
- School of Pharmacy, Center for Tumor and Immune Biology (ZTI), Philipps University Marburg, Hans-Meerwein-Straße 3, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Wibke E. Diederich
- School of Pharmacy, Center for Tumor and Immune Biology (ZTI), Philipps University Marburg, Hans-Meerwein-Straße 3, 35043 Marburg, Germany
- Core Facility Medicinal Chemistry, Philipps University Marburg, Hans-Meerwein-Straße 3, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Matthias Lauth
- Center for Tumor and Immune Biology (ZTI), Philipps University Marburg, Hans-Meerwein-Straße 3, 35043 Marburg, Germany
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State of the art of Smo antagonists for cancer therapy: advances in the target receptor and new ligand structures. Future Med Chem 2019; 11:617-638. [PMID: 30912670 DOI: 10.4155/fmc-2018-0497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Since the Hedgehog signaling pathway has been associated with cancer, it has emerged as a therapeutic target for cancer therapy. The main target among the key Hedgehog proteins is the GPCR-like Smo receptor. Therefore, some Smo antagonists that have entered clinical trials, including the US FDA-approved drugs vismodegib and sonidegib, to treat basal cell carcinoma and medulloblastoma. However, early resistance of these drugs has spawned the need to understand the molecular bases of this phenomena. We therefore reviewed details about Smo receptor structures and the best Smo antagonist chemical structures. In addition, we discussed strategies that should be considered to develop new, safer generations of Smo antagonists that avoid current clinical limitations.
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Song S, Jiang J, Zhao L, Wang Q, Lu W, Zheng C, Zhang J, Ma H, Tian S, Zheng J, Luo L, Li Y, Yang ZJ, Zhang X. Structural optimization on a virtual screening hit of smoothened receptor. Eur J Med Chem 2019; 172:1-15. [PMID: 30939349 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2019.03.057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2018] [Revised: 03/19/2019] [Accepted: 03/23/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The Hedgehog (Hh) pathway plays a critical role during embryonic development by controlling cell patterning, growth and migration. In adults, the function of Hh pathway is curtailed to tissue repair and maintenance. Aberrant reactivation of Hh signaling has been linked to tumorigenesis in various cancers, such as basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and medulloblastoma. The Smoothened (Smo) receptor, a key component of the Hh pathway which is central to the signaling transduction, has emerged as an attractive therapeutic target for the treatment of human cancers. Taking advantage of the availability of several crystal structures of Smo in complex with different antagonists, we have previously conducted a molecular docking-based virtual screening to identify several compounds which exhibited significant inhibitory activity against the Hh pathway activation (IC50 < 10 μM) in a Gli-responsive element (GRE) reporter gene assay. The most potent compound (ChemDiv ID C794-1677: 47 nM) showed comparable Hh signaling inhibition to the marketed drug vismodegib (46 nM). Herein, we report our structural optimization based on the virtual screening hit C794-1677. Our efforts are aimed to improve potency, decrease cLogP, and remove potentially metabolic labile/toxic pyrrole and aniline functionalities presented in C794-1677. The optimization led to the identification of numerous potent compounds exemplified by 25 (7.1 nM), which was 7 folds more potent compared with vismodegib. In addition, 25 was much less lipophilic compared with C794-1677 and devoid of the potentially metabolic labile/toxic pyrrole and aniline functional groups. Furthermore, 25 exhibited promising efficacy in inhibiting Gli1 mRNA expression in NIH3T3 cells with either wildtype Smo or D473H Smo mutant. These results represented significant improvement over the virtual screening hit C794-1677 and suggested that compound 25 can be used as a good starting point to support lead optimization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiwei Song
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neuropsychiatric Diseases and College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, PR China
| | - Jinyi Jiang
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neuropsychiatric Diseases and College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, PR China
| | - Li Zhao
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neuropsychiatric Diseases and College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, PR China
| | - Qin Wang
- BeiGene (Beijing) Co., Ltd., No. 30 Science Park Road, Zhongguancun Life Science Park, Beijing, 102206, PR China
| | - Wenfeng Lu
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neuropsychiatric Diseases and College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, PR China
| | - Chaonan Zheng
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neuropsychiatric Diseases and College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, PR China
| | - Jie Zhang
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neuropsychiatric Diseases and College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, PR China
| | - Haikuo Ma
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neuropsychiatric Diseases and College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, PR China; Cyrus Tang Hematology Center, Jiangsu Institute of Hematology and Collaborative Innovation Center of Hematology, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, PR China.
| | - Sheng Tian
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neuropsychiatric Diseases and College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, PR China
| | - Jiyue Zheng
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neuropsychiatric Diseases and College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, PR China
| | - Lusong Luo
- BeiGene (Beijing) Co., Ltd., No. 30 Science Park Road, Zhongguancun Life Science Park, Beijing, 102206, PR China
| | - Youyong Li
- Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, PR China
| | - Zeng-Jie Yang
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neuropsychiatric Diseases and College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, PR China; Cancer Biology Program, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple University Health System, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
| | - Xiaohu Zhang
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neuropsychiatric Diseases and College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, PR China.
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Pietrobono S, Stecca B. Targeting the Oncoprotein Smoothened by Small Molecules: Focus on Novel Acylguanidine Derivatives as Potent Smoothened Inhibitors. Cells 2018; 7:cells7120272. [PMID: 30558232 PMCID: PMC6316656 DOI: 10.3390/cells7120272] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2018] [Revised: 11/30/2018] [Accepted: 12/10/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Hedgehog-GLI (HH) signaling was originally identified as a critical morphogenetic pathway in embryonic development. Since its discovery, a multitude of studies have reported that HH signaling also plays key roles in a variety of cancer types and in maintaining tumor-initiating cells. Smoothened (SMO) is the main transducer of HH signaling, and in the last few years, it has emerged as a promising therapeutic target for anticancer therapy. Although vismodegib and sonidegib have demonstrated effectiveness for the treatment of basal cell carcinoma (BCC), their clinical use has been hampered by severe side effects, low selectivity against cancer stem cells, and the onset of mutation-driven drug resistance. Moreover, SMO antagonists are not effective in cancers where HH activation is due to mutations of pathway components downstream of SMO, or in the case of noncanonical, SMO-independent activation of the GLI transcription factors, the final mediators of HH signaling. Here, we review the current and rapidly expanding field of SMO small-molecule inhibitors in experimental and clinical settings, focusing on a class of acylguanidine derivatives. We also discuss various aspects of SMO, including mechanisms of resistance to SMO antagonists.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Pietrobono
- Tumor Cell Biology Unit⁻Core Research Laboratory, Institute for Cancer Research, Prevention and Clinical Network (ISPRO), 50139 Florence, Italy.
| | - Barbara Stecca
- Tumor Cell Biology Unit⁻Core Research Laboratory, Institute for Cancer Research, Prevention and Clinical Network (ISPRO), 50139 Florence, Italy.
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