Synthesis of aminopyrazole analogs and their evaluation as CDK inhibitors for cancer therapy

We synthesized a library of aminopyrazole analogs to systematically explore the hydrophobic pocket adjacent to the hinge region and the solvent exposed region of cyclin dependent kinases. Structure-activity relationship studies identified an optimal substitution for the hydrophobic pocket and analog 24 as a potent and selective CDK2/5 inhibitor.

Cyclin A2 and its associated kinase activity are required for optimal induction of progesterone receptor target genes in breast cancer cells

A role for the cell cycle protein cyclin A2 in regulating progesterone receptor (PR) activity is emerging. This study investigates the role of cyclin A2 in regulating endogenous PR activity in T47D breast cancer cells by depleting cyclin A2 expression and measuring PR target genes using q-RT-PCR. Targets examined included genes induced by the PR-B isoform more strongly than PR-A (SGK1, FKBP5), a gene induced predominantly by PR-A (HEF1), genes induced via PR tethering to other transcription factors (p21, p27), a gene induced in part via extra-nuclear PR signaling mechanisms (cyclin D1) and PR-repressed genes (DST, IL1R1). Progestin induction of target genes was reduced following cyclin A2 depletion. However, cyclin A2 depletion did not diminish progestin target gene repression. Furthermore, inhibition of the associated Cdk2 kinase activity of cyclin A2 also reduced progestin induction of target genes, while Cdk2 enhanced the interaction between PR and cyclin A2. These results demonstrate that cyclin A2 and its associated kinase activity are important for progestin-induced activation of endogenous PR target genes in breast cancer cells.

Systems pharmacology strategies for drug discovery and combination with applications to cardiovascular diseases

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Multi-target therapeutics is a promising paradigm for drug discovery which is expected to produce greater levels of efficacy with fewer adverse effects and toxicity than monotherapies. Medical herbs featuring multi-components and multi-targets may serve as valuable resources for network-based multi-target drug discovery.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this study, we report an integrated systems pharmacology platform for drug discovery and combination, with a typical example applied to herbal medicines in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

RESULTS

First, a disease-specific drug-target network was constructed and examined at systems level to capture the key disease-relevant biology for discovery of multi-targeted agents. Second, considering an integration of disease complexity and multilevel connectivity, a comprehensive database of literature-reported associations, chemicals and pharmacology for herbal medicines was designed. Third, a large-scale systematic analysis combining pharmacokinetics, chemogenomics, pharmacology and systems biology data through computational methods was performed and validated experimentally, which results in a superior output of information for systematic drug design strategies for complex diseases.

CONCLUSIONS

This strategy integrating different types of technologies is expected to help create new opportunities for drug discovery and combination.