Identification of Bisindolylmaleimide IX as a potential agent to treat drug-resistant BCR-ABL positive leukemia

Bisindolyl Maleimides and Indolylmaleimide Derivatives-A Review of Their Synthesis and Bioactivity

The evolution of bisindolyl maleimides and indolyl maleimide derivatives and their unique biological activities have stimulated great interest in medicinal chemistry programs. Bisindolylmaleimide (BIM)-type compounds arise from natural sources such as arcyriarubin and are biosynthetically related to indolocarbazoles. BIMs are commonly the immediate synthetic precursors of indolocarbazoles, lacking a central bond between the two aromatic units and making them more flexible and drug-like. Synthetic endeavours within this class of compounds are broad and have led to the development of both remarkably potent and selective protein kinase inhibitors. Clinical BIM examples include ruboxistaurin and enzastaurin, which are highly active inhibitors of protein kinase C-β. While BIMs are widely recognised as protein kinase inhibitors, other modes of activity have been reported, including the inhibition of calcium signalling and antimicrobial activity. Critically, structural differences can be used to exploit new bioactivity and therefore it is imperative to discover new chemical entities to address new targets. BIMs can be highly functionalised or chemically manipulated, which provides the opportunity to generate new derivatives with unique biological profiles. This review will collate new synthetic approaches to BIM-type compounds and their associated bioactivities with a focus on clinical applications.

Integrative analysis of multi-omics data highlighted TP53 as a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker of survival in breast invasive carcinoma patients

The global incidence of breast invasive carcinoma (BRIC) has risen significantly in recent years, so it is important to identify the novel biomarkers for the early detection and treatment of BRIC. The role of the TP53 gene is well studied in the pathogenesis of BRIC but still, observations are conflicting. Therefore, this study was initiated to have a consolidated overview of TP53 contributions in the BRIC initiation and progression by analyzing its mutatome, expression variations, promoter methylation level, clinical outcome, and drug sensitivity analysis in BRIC using cBioPortal, UALCAN, KM plotter, and CCLE GDSC toolkit database. Mutatome analysis revealed that TP53 was mutated in 30 % BRIC cases and among all the noted mutations, missense and truncation mutation were noticed as the most frequent mutations and thought to be involved in the up-regulation of TP53 expression. TP53 transcription, translation, and promoter methylation levels in BRIC patients of various clinicopathological features were high relative to the normal controls. Kaplan Meier overall survival (OS) analysis revealed a good prognostic value of TP53 overexpression for the survival in BRIC patients. Moreover, TP53 overexpression was found to alter the effectiveness of various drugs used in the chemotherapy of BRIC. Collectively, our findings suggested that TP53 might be a potential diagnostic and prognostic marker for the survival in BRIC patients of various clinicopathological features.

Gene Expression Signatures Identify Novel Therapeutics for Metastatic Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors

PURPOSE

Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNETs) are uncommon malignancies noted for their propensity to metastasize and comparatively favorable prognosis. Although both the treatment options and clinical outcomes have improved in the past decades, most patients will die of metastatic disease. New systemic therapies are needed.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

Tissues were obtained from 43 patients with well-differentiated pNETs undergoing surgery. Gene expression was compared between primary tumors versus liver and lymph node metastases using RNA-Seq. Genes that were selectively elevated at only one metastatic site were filtered out to reduce tissue-specific effects. Ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA) and the Connectivity Map (CMap) identified drugs likely to antagonize metastasis-specific targets. The biological activity of top identified agents was tested in vitro using two pNET cell lines (BON-1 and QGP-1).

RESULTS

A total of 902 genes were differentially expressed in pNET metastases compared with primary tumors, 626 of which remained in the common metastatic profile after filtering. Analysis with IPA and CMap revealed altered activity of factors involved in survival and proliferation, and identified drugs targeting those pathways, including inhibitors of mTOR, PI3K, MEK, TOP2A, protein kinase C, NF-kB, cyclin-dependent kinase, and histone deacetylase. Inhibitors of MEK and TOP2A were consistently the most active compounds.

CONCLUSIONS

We employed a complementary bioinformatics approach to identify novel therapeutics for pNETs by analyzing gene expression in metastatic tumors. The potential utility of these drugs was confirmed by in vitro cytotoxicity assays, suggesting drugs targeting MEK and TOP2A may be highly efficacious against metastatic pNETs. This is a promising strategy for discovering more effective treatments for patients with pNETs.