scholarly journals New 3-Aryl-2-(2-thienyl)acrylonitriles with High Activity Against Hepatoma Cells

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 2243
Author(s):  
Eva Schaller ◽  
Andi Ma ◽  
Lisa Chiara Gosch ◽  
Adrian Klefenz ◽  
David Schaller ◽  
...  

New 2-(thien-2-yl)-acrylonitriles with putative kinase inhibitory activity were prepared and tested for their antineoplastic efficacy in hepatoma models. Four out of the 14 derivatives were shown to inhibit hepatoma cell proliferation at (sub-)micromolar concentrations with IC50 values below that of the clinically relevant multikinase inhibitor sorafenib, which served as a reference. Colony formation assays as well as primary in vivo examinations of hepatoma tumors grown on the chorioallantoic membrane of fertilized chicken eggs (CAM assay) confirmed the excellent antineoplastic efficacy of the new derivatives. Their mode of action included an induction of apoptotic capsase-3 activity, while no contribution of unspecific cytotoxic effects was observed in LDH-release measurements. Kinase profiling of cancer relevant protein kinases identified the two 3-aryl-2-(thien-2-yl)acrylonitrile derivatives 1b and 1c as (multi-)kinase inhibitors with a preferential activity against the VEGFR-2 tyrosine kinase. Additional bioinformatic analysis of the VEGFR-2 binding modes by docking and molecular dynamics calculations supported the experimental findings and indicated that the hydroxy group of 1c might be crucial for its distinct inhibitory potency against VEGFR-2. Forthcoming studies will further unveil the underlying mode of action of the promising new derivatives as well as their suitability as an urgently needed novel approach in HCC treatment.

Author(s):  
Shangfei Wei ◽  
Tianming Zhao ◽  
Jie Wang ◽  
Xin Zhai

: Allostery is an efficient and particular regulatory mechanism to regulate protein functions. Different from conserved orthosteric sites, allosteric sites have distinctive functional mechanism to form the complex regulatory network. In drug discovery, kinase inhibitors targeting the allosteric pockets have received extensive attention for the advantages of high selectivity and low toxicity. The approval of trametinib as the first allosteric inhibitor validated that allosteric inhibitors could be used as effective therapeutic drugs for treatment of diseases. To date, a wide range of allosteric inhibitors have been identified. In this perspective, we outline different binding modes and potential advantages of allosteric inhibitors. In the meantime, the research processes of typical and novel allosteric inhibitors are described briefly in terms of structureactivity relationships, ligand-protein interactions and in vitro and in vivo activity. Additionally, challenges as well as opportunities are presented.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (21) ◽  
pp. 7919
Author(s):  
Hyewon Cho ◽  
Eun Lee ◽  
Hye Ah Kwon ◽  
Lee Seul ◽  
Hui-Jeon Jeon ◽  
...  

Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) is an attractive target for treating patients with B cell malignancies and autoimmune diseases. Many BTK inhibitors have been identified; however, like other kinase inhibitors, they lack diversity in their core structures. Therefore, it is important to secure a novel scaffold that occupies the adenine-binding site of BTK. We screened an in-house library of natural products and their analogs via a biochemical assay to identify a novel scaffold for targeting BTK. A pyranochromenone scaffold, derived from a natural active component decursin, was found to be effective at targeting BTK and was selected for further optimization. A series of pyranochromenone analogs was synthesized through the modification of pyranochromenone at the C7 position. Pyranochromenone compounds with an electrophilic warhead exhibited promising BTK inhibitory activity, with IC50 values in the range of 0.5–0.9 µM. A docking study of the representative compound 8 provided a reasonable explanation for compound activity. Compound 8 demonstrated good selectivity over other associated kinases and decreased the production of proinflammatory cytokines in THP cells. Moreover, compound 8 presented significant in vivo efficacy in a murine model of collagen-induced arthritis.


Cancers ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1878 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert H. Berndsen ◽  
Nathalie Swier ◽  
Judy R. van Beijnum ◽  
Patrycja Nowak-Sliwinska

Patients with advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) still depend on chemotherapy regimens that are associated with significant limitations, including resistance and toxicity. The contribution of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) to the prolongation of survival in these patients is limited, hampering clinical implementation. It is suggested that an optimal combination of appropriate TKIs can outperform treatment strategies that contain chemotherapy. We have previously identified a strongly synergistic drug combination (SDC), consisting of axitinib, erlotinib, and dasatinib that is active in renal cell carcinoma cells. In this study, we investigated the activity of this SDC in different CRC cell lines (SW620, HT29, and DLD-1) in more detail. SDC treatment significantly and synergistically decreased cell metabolic activity and induced apoptosis. The translation of the in-vitro-based results to in vivo conditions revealed significant CRC tumor growth inhibition, as evaluated in the chicken chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) model. Phosphoproteomics analysis of the tested cell lines revealed expression profiles that explained the observed activity. In conclusion, we demonstrate promising activity of an optimized mixture of axitinib, erlotinib, and dasatinib in CRC cells, and suggest further translational development of this drug mixture.


Blood ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 104 (11) ◽  
pp. 793-793 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amie S. Corbin ◽  
Shadmehr Demehri ◽  
Ian J. Griswold ◽  
Chester A. Metcalf ◽  
William C. Shakespeare ◽  
...  

Abstract Oncogenic mutations of the KIT receptor tyrosine kinase have been identified in several malignancies including gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), systemic mastocytosis (SM), seminomas/dysgerminomas and acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). Mutations in the regulatory juxtamembrane domain are common in GIST, while mutations in the activation loop of the kinase (most commonly D816V) occur predominantly in SM and at low frequency in AML. Several ATP-competitive kinase inhibitors, including imatinib, are effective against juxtamembrane KIT mutants, however, the D816V mutant is largely resistant to inhibition. We analyzed the sensitivities of cell lines expressing wild type KIT, juxtamembrane mutant KIT (V560G) and activation loop mutant KIT (D816V,F,Y and murine D814Y) to a potent Src/Abl kinase inhibitor, AP23464, and analogs. IC50 values for inhibition of cellular KIT phosphorylation by AP23464 were 5–11 nM for activation loop mutants, 70 nM for the juxtamembrane mutant and 85 nM for wild type KIT. Consistent with this, IC50 values in cell proliferation assays were 3–20 nM for activation loop mutants and 100 nM for wild type KIT and the juxtmembrane mutant. In activation loop mutant-expressing cell lines, AP23464, at concentrations ≤50 nM, induced apoptosis, arrested the cell cycle in G0/G1 and down-regulated phosphorylation of Akt and STAT3, signaling pathways critical for the transforming capacity of mutant KIT. In contrast, 500 nM AP23464 was required to induce equivalent effects in wild-type KIT and juxtamembrane mutant-expressing cell lines. These data demonstrate that activation loop KIT mutants are considerably more sensitive to inhibition by AP23464 than wild type or juxtamembrane mutant KIT. Non-specific toxicity in parental cells occurred only at concentrations above 2 μM. Additionally, at concentrations below 100 nM, AP23464 did not inhibit formation of granulocyte/macrophage and erythrocyte colonies from normal bone marrow, suggesting that therapeutic drug levels would not impact normal hematopoiesis. We also examined in vivo target inhibition in a mouse model. Mice were subcutaneously injected with D814Y-expressing (D816V homologous) murine mastocytoma cells. Once tumors were established, compound was administered three-times daily by oral gavage. One hour post treatment we observed >90% inhibition of KIT phosphorylation in tumor tissue. Following a three-day treatment regimen, there was a statistically significant difference in tumor size compared to controls. Thus, AP23464 analogs effectively target D816-mutant KIT both in vitro and in vivo and inhibit activation loop KIT mutants more potently than the wild type protein. These data provide evidence that this class of kinase inhibitors may have therapeutic potential for D816V-expressing malignancies such as SM or AML.


Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blanca Cucarull ◽  
Anna Tutusaus ◽  
Miguel Subías ◽  
Milica Stefanovic ◽  
Tania Hernáez-Alsina ◽  
...  

Background: The multikinase inhibitor regorafenib, approved as second-line treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after sorafenib failure, may induce mitochondrial damage. BH3-mimetics, inhibitors of specific BCL-2 proteins, are valuable drugs in cancer therapy to amplify mitochondrial-dependent cell death. Methods: In in vitro and in vivo HCC models, we tested regorafenib’s effect on the BCL-2 network and the efficacy of BH3-mimetics on HCC treatment. Results: In hepatoma cell lines and Hep3B liver spheroids, regorafenib cytotoxicity was potentiated by BCL-xL siRNA transfection or pharmacological inhibition (A-1331852), while BCL-2 antagonism had no effect. Mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization, cytochrome c release, and caspase-3 activation mediated A-1331852/regorafenib-induced cell death. In a patient-derived xenograft (PDX) HCC model, BCL-xL inhibition stimulated regorafenib activity, drastically decreasing tumor growth. Moreover, regorafenib-resistant HepG2 cells displayed increased BCL-xL and reduced MCL-1 expression, while A-1331852 reinstated regorafenib efficacy in vitro and in a xenograft mouse model. Interestingly, BCL-xL levels, associated with poor prognosis in liver and colorectal cancer, and the BCL-xL/MCL-1 ratio were detected as being increased in HCC patients. Conclusion: Regorafenib primes tumor cells to BH3-mimetic-induced cell death, allowing BCL-xL inhibition with A-1331852 or other strategies based on BCL-xL degradation to enhance regorafenib efficacy, offering a novel approach for HCC treatment, particularly for tumors with an elevated BCL-xL/MCL-1 ratio.


Molecules ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (8) ◽  
pp. 1960 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dongdong Li ◽  
Linlin Dai ◽  
Xiumei Zhao ◽  
Shuang Zhi ◽  
Hongsheng Shen ◽  
...  

Novel mustard functionalized sophoridine derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for their cytotoxicity against of a panel of various cancer cell lines. They were shown to be more sensitive to S180 and H22 tumor cells with IC50 values ranging from 1.01–3.65 μM, and distinctly were more cytotoxic to cancer cells than normal cell L929. In addition, compounds 7a, 7c, and 7e displayed moderate tumor suppression without apparent organ toxicity in vivo against mice bearing H22 liver tumors. Furthermore, they arrested tumor cells in the G1 phase and induced cellular apoptosis. Their potential binding modes with DNA-Top I complex have also been investigated.


Molecules ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (16) ◽  
pp. 2950 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chen ◽  
Guo ◽  
Ma ◽  
Chen ◽  
Fan ◽  
...  

Utilizing a pharmacophore hybridization approach, we have designed and synthesized a novel series of 28 new heterobivalent β-carbolines. The in vitro cytotoxic potential of each compound was evaluated against the five cancer cell lines (LLC, BGC-823, CT-26, Bel-7402, and MCF-7) of different origin—murine and human, with the aim of determining the potency and selectivity of the compounds. Compound 8z showed antitumor activities with half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of 9.9 ± 0.9, 8.6 ± 1.4, 6.2 ± 2.5, 9.9 ± 0.5, and 5.7 ± 1.2 µM against the tested five cancer cell lines. Moreover, the effect of compound 8z on the angiogenesis process was investigated using a chicken chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) in vivo model. At a concentration of 5 μM, compound 8z showed a positive effect on angiogenesis. The results of this study contribute to the further elucidation of the biological regulatory role of heterobivalent β-carbolines and provide helpful information on the development of vascular targeting antitumor drugs.


Marine Drugs ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. 410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Djenisa Rocha ◽  
Ana Seca ◽  
Diana Pinto

Isolation, finding or discovery of novel anticancer agents is very important for cancer treatment, and seaweeds are one of the largest producers of chemically active metabolites with valuable cytotoxic properties, and therefore can be used as new chemotherapeutic agents or source of inspiration to develop new ones. Identification of the more potent and selective anticancer components isolated from brown, green and red seaweeds, as well as studies of their mode of action is very attractive and constitute a small but relevant progress for pharmacological applications. Several researchers have carried out in vitro and in vivo studies in various cell lines and have disclosed the active metabolites among the terpenoids, including carotenoids, polyphenols and alkaloids that can be found in seaweeds. In this review the type of metabolites and their cytotoxic or antiproliferative effects will be discussed additionally their mode of action, structure-activity relationship and selectivity will also be revealed. The diterpene dictyolactone, the sterol cholest-5-en-3β,7α-diol and the halogenated monoterpene halomon are among the reported compounds, the ones that present sub-micromolar cytotoxicity. Additionally, one dimeric sesquiterpene of the cyclolaurane-type, three bromophenols and one halogenated monoterpene should be emphasized because they exhibit half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values between 1–5 µM against several cell lines.


Blood ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 106 (11) ◽  
pp. 1522-1522
Author(s):  
Shinya Kimura ◽  
Haruna Naito ◽  
Asumi Yokota ◽  
Yuri Kamitsuji ◽  
Eri Kawata ◽  
...  

Abstract Chemical modifications of imatinib mesylate made with the guidance of molecular modeling yielded several promising compounds. Among them, we selected a compound denoted NS-187 (elsewhere described as CNS-9) on the basis of its affinity to Abl, and also to Lyn, which may be involved in imatinib-resistance (Figure). The most striking structural characteristic of NS-187 is its trifluoromethyl (CF3) group at position 3 of the benzamide ring. The presence of the CF3 group strengthened the hydrophobic interactionss of the molecule with the hydrophobic pocket of Abl. Another possible merit of the CF3 group is that it may fix the conformation of the drug by hindering its rotation at the 4-position of the benzamide ring; as a result, a CF3-bearing molecule may be more potent than more flexible compounds such as imatinib. In fact, NS-187 was 25–55 times more potent than imatinib in vitro and and at least 10 times more potent than in vivo. NS-187 also inhibited the phosphorylation and growth of all Bcr-Abl mutants tested except T315I at physiological concentrations. Another special feature of NS-187, in addition to its increased affinity to Abl is its unique spectrum of inhibitory activity against protein kinases. At a concentration of 0.1 μM, NS-187 inhibited only four of 79 tyrosine kinases, that is, Abl, Arg, Fyn, and Lyn. Notably, at 0.1 μM NS-187 did not inhibit PDGFR, Blk, Src or Yes. The IC50 values of NS-187 for Abl, Src and Lyn were 5.8 nM, 1700 nM and 19 nM, respectively, and those of imatinib were 106 nM, >10,000 nM and 352 nM, respectively. These findings indicate that NS-187 acts as a Bcr-Abl/Lyn inhibitor. In this respect, NS-187 may stand out among other novel Abl tyrosine kinase inhibitors, because BMS-354825 inhibits all members of the Src family, while AMN-107 inhibits none of the Src-family kinases. Our proposed docking models of the NS-187/Abl complex support the notion that NS-187 is more specific for Lyn than for Src. The amino acid at position 252 is either Gln or Cys in Src-family proteins. NS-187 inhibited the Gln252-bearing proteins Abl, Fyn and Lyn but had lower activity against the Cys252-bearing Src and Yes. This is probably because Gln, unlike Cys, readily forms hydrogen bonds. The distinguishing characteristic of NS-187, its high affinity for and specific inhibition of Abl and Lyn, may be useful in the treatment of Bcr-Abl-positive leukemia patients. Figure Figure


1997 ◽  
Vol 78 (04) ◽  
pp. 1202-1208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianne Kjalke ◽  
Julie A Oliver ◽  
Dougald M Monroe ◽  
Maureane Hoffman ◽  
Mirella Ezban ◽  
...  

SummaryActive site-inactivated factor VIIa has potential as an antithrombotic agent. The effects of D-Phe-L-Phe-L-Arg-chloromethyl ketone-treated factor VIla (FFR-FVIIa) were evaluated in a cell-based system mimicking in vivo initiation of coagulation. FFR-FVIIa inhibited platelet activation (as measured by expression of P-selectin) and subsequent large-scale thrombin generation in a dose-dependent manner with IC50 values of 1.4 ± 0.8 nM (n = 8) and 0.9 ± 0.7 nM (n = 7), respectively. Kd for factor VIIa binding to monocytes ki for FFR-FVIIa competing with factor VIIa were similar (11.4 ± 0.8 pM and 10.6 ± 1.1 pM, respectively), showing that FFR-FVIIa binds to tissue factor in the tenase complex with the same affinity as factor VIIa. Using platelets from volunteers before and after ingestion of aspirin (1.3 g), there were no significant differences in the IC50 values of FFR-FVIIa [after aspirin ingestion, the IC50 values were 1.7 ± 0.9 nM (n = 8) for P-selectin expression, p = 0.37, and 1.4 ± 1.3 nM (n = 7) for thrombin generation, p = 0.38]. This shows that aspirin treatment of platelets does not influence the inhibition of tissue factor-initiated coagulation by FFR-FVIIa, probably because thrombin activation of platelets is not entirely dependent upon expression of thromboxane A2.


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