Daniela Masciocchi

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3): a promising target for anticancer therapy

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is an oncogenic protein whose inhibition is sought for the prevention and treatment of cancer. In this review, the validated therapeutic strategy to block aberrant activity of STAT3 in many tumor cell lines is evaluated by presenting the most promising inhibitors to date. The compounds are discussed in classes based on their different mechanisms of action, which are critically explained. In addition, their future clinical development as anticancer agents is considered. Furthermore, the efforts devoted to the comprehension of the structure-activity relationships and to the identification of the biological effects are brought to attention. The synthetic and technological approaches recently developed to overcome the difficulties in the obtainment of clinically suitable drugs are also presented.

Synthesis, structure–activity relationships and stereochemical investigations of new tricyclic pyridazinone derivatives as potential STAT3 inhibitors

Through a cell-based biological screening, the benzocinnolinone derivative (±)-2c was identified as a promising STAT3 inhibitor. Since SAR studies on a series of compounds structurally related to (±)-2c (1c, 2a–p, 3c, 4c, 6) showed that the latter had the most significant inhibitory activity, we investigated in depth its essential structural features. In particular, enantiomeric separation was performed, and the absolute configuration of the stereoisomers was assigned by theoretical and crystallographic studies. The biological evaluation highlighted that (S)-(−)-2c is twice as potent as (R)-(+)-2c.

The Influence of the Substitution Pattern on the Molecular Conformation of Ureido‐1,2,5‐oxadiazoles, Related to STAT3 Inhibitors: Chemical Behavior and Structural Investigation

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is a protein constitutively activated by aberrant upstream tyrosine kinase activities in a broad spectrum of human solid and blood tumors. Therefore, the availability of drugs affecting STAT3 may have important therapeutic potential for the treatment of cancer. Pursuing our efforts in exploring the influence of the substitution pattern of the ureido 1,2,5‐oxadiazole moiety on the molecular conformation, new compounds substituted at positions 3 and 4 on the furazane ring were synthesized. The inhibition properties vs. STAT3 of the novel compounds were evaluated in a dual‐luciferase assay, using HCT‐116 cells, and the results evidenced a moderate activity only for the compounds endowed with a planar arrangement. Crystallographic studies of the new derivatives were performed in order to evidence the peculiar chemical behavior and to evaluate how structural modulations affected the biological properties.

Modeling, synthesis and NMR characterization of novel chimera compounds targeting STAT3

Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 (STAT3) is a cytoplasmic factor that mediates intracellular signaling commonly generated at cell surface receptors and transmits it to the nucleus. In previous research studies we synthesized several molecules inhibiting STAT3 and among them oxadiazole MD77 and pyridazinone I showed an interesting activity. For the first one, a direct inhibition mechanism was determined, while I interfered within the STAT3 pathway at a different level. In order to discover novel compounds possibly endowed with an improved activity, we decided to merge their scaffolds on the basis of their calculated conformational properties. Therefore we designed and synthesized the chimera diastereomers 3-oxo-N-(4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-2,3,4,4a,5,6-hexahydrobenzo[h]cinnoline-6-carboxamide (1, 2) and 3-oxo-N-(4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-2,3,5,6-tetrahydrobenzo[h]cinnoline-6-carboxamide (3) as racemate and their enantiomeric separation was performed. Modeling studies and theoretical prediction of [α]D values were carried out beside NMR studies which allowed us to assign 1 and 2 relative configurations.

Crystal structure of 3-(3-oxo-2,3,4,4a,5,6-hexa-hydro-benzo[h]cinnolin-2-yl)propionic acid.

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, C15H16N2O3, contains two independent molecules, which present a different conformation of the carboxylic acid side chain [C—C—C—OH torsion angles = 65.3 (7) and −170.1 (5)°]. In both molecules, the dihydropyridazinone ring adopts a geometry intermediate between a twisted-boat and a half-chair conformation, while the central six-membered ring is almost in a half-boat conformation. In the crystal, molecules are linked by O—H⋯Ok (k = ketone) hydrogen bonds, generating [01-1] chains. Aromatic π–π stacking contacts between the benzene and the dihydropyridazinone rings [centroid–centroid distance [3.879 (9) Å] are also observed.