Pyridine-Containing Macrocycles Display MMP-2/9 Inhibitory Activity and Distinct Effects on Migration and Invasion of 2D and 3D Breast Cancer Models

Macrocycles and macrocyclization in anticancer drug discovery: Important pieces of the puzzle

Increasing disease-related proteins have been identified as novel therapeutic targets. Macrocycles are emerging as potential solutions, bridging the gap between conventional small molecules and biomacromolecules in drug discovery. Inspired by successful macrocyclic drugs of natural origins, macrocycles are attracting more attention for enhanced binding affinity and target selectivity. Due to the conformation constraint and structure preorganization, macrocycles can reach bioactive conformations more easily than parent acyclic compounds. Also, rational macrocyclization combined with sequent structural modification will help improve oral bioavailability and combat drug resistance. This review introduces various strategies to enhance membrane permeability in macrocyclization and subsequent modification, such as N-methylation, intramolecular hydrogen bonding modulation, isomerization, and reversible bicyclization. Several case studies highlight macrocyclic inhibitors targeting kinases, HDAC, and protein-protein interactions. Finally, some macrocyclic agents targeting tumor microenvironments are illustrated.

Naringin dihydrochalcone potentially binds to catalytic domain of matrix metalloproteinase-2: molecular docking, MM-GBSA, and molecular dynamics simulation approach

Matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP2), an extracellular matrix remodulating protein's increased activity causes cancer-metastasis. Potential MMP2 inhibitors showed sever side-effects in clinical trials. Present study is focused on identification natural MMP2 inhibitor by applying molecular docking, MM-GBSA binding energy estimation and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Commercially available flavonoid compound library was used to screen the molecules potentially binding with catalytic domain of MMP2 protein compared to standard MMP2 inhibitor ARP₁₀₀. Naringin dihydrochalcone (NDC) showed interaction with the important residues (His120, Leu82 and Val117) present at the MMP2 catalytic domain in comparison to known inhibitor ARP₁₀₀ (dock score ≈ -13 and -8 kcal/mole respectively). Lower ligand-protein binding energy (-67.31 kcal/mole) obtained in MM-GBSA and the MD simulation trajectory analysis showed significant stable and energetically favourable binding of NDC at the catalytic site of MMP2. In conclusion, anti-metastatic potential of NDC should be validated in in vitro and in vivo experiments.

LINC00665 promotes the viability, migration and invasion of T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells by targeting miR-101 via modulating PI3K/Akt pathway

T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is a high-risk malignancy. The effects of cancer growth-related Long Intergenic Non-Protein Coding RNA 665 (LINC00665) in T-ALL remained obscure, and therefore further exploration was conducted on that in this study. The expression of LINC00665 in acute myeloid leukemia (LAML) tissues and myeloid tissues was analyzed using Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) 2. The target microRNA (miR) of LINC00665 was predicted by LncBase Predicted v.2 and verified using dual-luciferase reporter assay. After LINC00665 and miR-101 in T-ALL cells were overexpressed or silenced, the viability, migration and invasion of cell were detected using cell counting kit-8 and Transwell assays. The expressions of LINC00665, miR-101, Cyclin D1, Matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-2, MMP-9, phosphorylated (p)-phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), PI3K, p-Akt, Akt were detected by quantitative real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) and western blot. High expression of LINC00665 was presented in LAML tissues, the peripheral blood samples from patients with T-ALL and T-ALL cells. Overexpression of LINC00665 promoted the viability, migration and invasion of T-ALL cells and downregulated miR-101 expression, whereas silencing of LINC00665 did oppositely. MiR-101 could competitively bind to LINC00665, and was low-expressed in T-ALL. MiR-101 mimic inhibited viability, migration and invasion of T-ALL cells, and reversed effects of overexpressed LINC00665, whilst miR-101 inhibitor reversed the effects of LINC00665 silencing. Besides, overexpressed LINC00665 upregulated the expressions of Cyclin D1 MMP-2, and MMP-9 and the ratios of p-PI3K/PI3K and p-Akt/Akt, which were reversed by miR-101 mimic. LINC00665 could enhance the viability, migration and invasion abilities of T-ALL cells by targeting miR-101 via activating PI3K/Akt pathway.