Quality by design approach-based fabrication and evaluation of self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery system for improved delivery of venetoclax

Breast cancer is reported as one of the most prevalent non-cutaneous malignancies in women. Venetoclax (VEN) is an approved BCl-2 inhibitor for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia with very limited oral bioavailability and exhibits an enormous impact on breast cancer. In the current investigation, venetoclax-loaded self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery systems (VEN-SNEDDS) were designed and fabricated to improve the aqueous solubility, permeability, and anticancer efficacy of VEN. Various surface-active parameters of the reconstituted SNEDDS were determined to scrutinize the performance of the selected surfactant mixture. Central composite design (CCD) was used to optimize the VEN-SNEDDS. The globule size of reconstituted VEN-SNEDDS was 71.3 ± 2.8 nm with a polydispersity index of 0.113 ± 0.01. VEN-SNEDDS displayed approximately 3-4 fold, 6-7 fold, and 5-6 fold reduced IC50 as compared to free VEN in MDA-MB-231, MCF-7, and T47 D cells, respectively. VEN-SNEDDS showed greater cellular uptake, apoptosis, reactive oxygen species generation, and higher BAX/BCL2 ratio with decreased caspase 3 and 8 and BCL-2 levels in the MDA-MB-231 cells compared to pure VEN. VEN-SNEDDS exhibited approximately fivefold enhancement in Cmax and an improved oral bioavailability compared to VEN suspension in in vivo pharmacokinetic studies.

Virtual screening, SAR, and discovery of 5-(indole-3-yl)-2-[(2-nitrophenyl)amino] [1,3,4]-oxadiazole as a novel Bcl-2 inhibitor

A new series of oxadiazoles were designed to act as inhibitors of the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein. Virtual screening led to the discovery of new hits that interact with Bcl-2 at the BH3 binding pocket. Further study of the structure-activity relationship of the most active compound of the first series, compound 1, led to the discovery of a novel oxadiazole analogue, compound 16j, that was a more potent small-molecule inhibitor of Bcl-2. 16j had good in vitro inhibitory activity with submicromolar IC₅₀ values in a metastatic human breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-231) and a human cervical cancer cell line (HeLa). The antitumour effect of 16j is concomitant with its ability to bind to Bcl-2 protein as shown by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (IC₅₀  = 4.27 μm). Compound 16j has a great potential to develop into highly active anticancer agent.