Emika Ohkoshi

Design and synthesis of naphthoquinone derivatives as antiproliferative agents and 20S proteasome inhibitors.

Fourteen naphthoquinone derivatives (1-14) were designed based on a putative proteasome inhibitor PI-083. These compounds were synthesized and evaluated against A549, DU145, KB, and KBvin tumor cell lines. Six compounds (2, 4, 8, 9, 10, and 13) showed antiproliferative activities comparable to that of PI-083. Among them, compound 8 was confirmed as a 20S proteasome inhibitor in both in vitro and cell-based assays. These findings endorse further optimization efforts based on this structural phenotype to develop potential anticancer drug candidates.

Antitumor agents 290. Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of new LNCaP and PC-3 cytotoxic curcumin analogs conjugated with anti-androgens

In our continuing study of curcumin analogs as potential anti-prostate cancer drug candidates, 15 new curcumin analogs were designed, synthesized and evaluated for cytotoxicity against two human prostate cancer cell lines, androgen-dependent LNCaP and androgen-independent PC-3. Twelve analogs (5-12, 15, 16, 19, and 20) are conjugates of curcumin (1) or methyl curcumin (2) with a flutamide- or bicalutamide-like moiety. Two compounds (22 and 23) are C4-mono- and difluoro-substituted analogs of dimethyl curcumin (DMC, 21). Among the newly synthesized conjugates compound 15, a conjugate of 2 with a partial bicalutamide moiety, was more potent than bicalutamide alone and essentially equipotent with 1 and 2 against both prostate tumor cell lines with IC(50) values of 41.8 μM (for LNCaP) and 39.1 μM (for PC-3). A cell morphology study revealed that the cytotoxicity of curcumin analogs or curcumin-anti-androgen conjugates detected from both prostate cancer cell lines might be due to the suppression of pseudopodia formation. A molecular intrinsic fluorescence experiment showed that 1 accumulated mainly in the nuclei, while conjugate 6 was distributed in the cytosol. At the tested conditions, anti-androgens suppressed pseudopodia formation in PC-3 cells, but not in LNCaP cells. The evidence suggests that distinguishable target proteins are involved, resulting in the different outcomes toward pseudopodia suppression.

Antitumor Agents. 284. New Desmosdumotin B Analogues with Bicyclic B-Ring as Cytotoxic and Antitubulin Agents

We previously reported that the biological activity of analogues of desmosdumotin B (1) was dramatically changed depending on the B-ring system. A naphthalene B-ring analogue 3 exerted potent in vitro activity against a diverse panel of human tumor cell lines with GI(50) values of 0.8-2.1 μM. In contrast, 1 analogues with a phenyl B-ring showed unique selective activity against P-glycoprotein (P-gp) overexpressing multidrug resistant cell line. We have now prepared and evaluated 1 analogues with bicyclic or tricyclic aromatic B-ring systems as in vitro inhibitors of human cancer cell line proliferation. Among all synthesized derivatives, 21 with a benzo[b]thiophenyl B-ring was highly active, with GI(50) values of 0.06-0.16 μM, and this activity was not influenced by overexpression of P-gp. Furthermore, 21 inhibited tubulin assembly in vitro with an IC(50) value of 2.0 μM and colchicine binding by 78% as well as cellular microtubule polymerization and spindle formation.

Optimization of 4-(N-Cycloamino)phenylquinazolines as a Novel Class of Tubulin-Polymerization Inhibitors Targeting the Colchicine Site

The 6-methoxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline moiety in prior leads 2-chloro- and 2-methyl-4-(6-methoxy-3,4-dihydroquinolin-1(2H)-yl)quinazoline (1a and 1b) was modified to produce 4-(N-cycloamino)quinazolines (4a–c and 5a–m). The new compounds were evaluated in cytotoxicity and tubulin inhibition assays, resulting in the discovery of new tubulin-polymerization inhibitors. 7-Methoxy-4-(2-methylquinazolin-4-yl)-3,4-dihydroquinoxalin- 2(1H)-one (5f), the most potent compound, exhibited high in vitro cytotoxic activity (GI50 1.9–3.2 nM), significant potency against tubulin assembly (IC50 0.77 μM), and substantial inhibition of colchicine binding (99% at 5 μM). In mechanism studies, 5f caused cell arrest in G2/M phase, disrupted microtubule formation, and competed mostly at the colchicine site on tubulin. Compound 5f and N-methylated analogue 5g were evaluated in nude mouse MCF7 xenograft models to validate their antitumor activity. Compound 5g displayed significant in vivo activity (tumor inhibitory rate 51%) at a dose of 4 mg/kg without obvious toxicity, whereas 5f unexpectedly resulted in toxicity and death at the same dose.

Antitumor agents 295. E-ring hydroxylated antofine and cryptopleurine analogues as antiproliferative agents: design, synthesis, and mechanistic studies.

Various E-ring hydroxylated antofine and cryptopleurine analogues were designed, synthesized, and tested against five human cancer cell lines. Interesting structure-activity relationship (SAR) correlations were found among these new compounds. The most potent compound 13b was further tested against a series of nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines in which it showed impressive antiproliferative activity. Mechanistic studies revealed that 13b is able to down-regulate HSP90 and β-catenin in A549 lung adenocarcinoma cells in a dose-dependent manner, suggesting a potential use for treating hedgehog pathway-driven tumorigenesis.

Design, synthesis and cytotoxic activity of novel spin-labeled rotenone derivatives

Three series of novel spin-labeled rotenone derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for cytotoxicity against four tumor cell lines, A-549, DU-145, KB and KBvin. All of the derivatives showed promising in vitro cytotoxic activity against the tumor cell lines tested, with IC(50) values ranging from 0.075 to 0.738μg/mL. Remarkably, all of the compounds were more potent than paclitaxel against KBvin in vitro, and compounds 3a and 3d displayed the highest cytotoxicity against this cell line (IC(50) 0.075 and 0.092μg/mL, respectively). Based on the observed cytotoxicity, structure-activity relationships have been described.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of N-alkyl-N-(4-methoxyphenyl)pyridin-2-amines as a new class of tubulin polymerization inhibitors.

Based on our prior antitumor hits, 32 novel N-alkyl-N-substituted phenylpyridin-2-amine derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated for cytotoxic activity against A549, KB, KB(VIN), and DU145 human tumor cell lines (HTCL). Subsequently, three new leads (6a, 7g, and 8c) with submicromolar GI(50) values of 0.19-0.41 μM in the cellular assays were discovered, and these compounds also significantly inhibited tubulin assembly (IC(50) 1.4-1.7 μM) and competitively inhibited colchicine binding to tubulin with effects similar to those of the clinical candidate CA-4 in the same assays. These promising results indicate that these tertiary diarylamine derivatives represent a novel class of tubulin polymerization inhibitors targeting the colchicine binding site and showing significant anti-proliferative activity.

Design and synthesis of diarylamines and diarylethers as cytotoxic antitumor agents.

Based on a shared structural core of diarylamine in several known anticancer drugs as well as a new cytotoxic hit 6-chloro-2-(4-cyanophenyl)amino-3-nitropyridine (7), 30 diarylamines and diarylethers were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for cytotoxic activity against A549, KB, KB-vin, and DU145 human tumor cell lines (HTCL). Four new leads 11e, 12, 13a, and 13b were discovered with GI(50) values ranging from 0.33 to 3.45μM. Preliminary SAR results revealed that a diarylamine or diarylether could serve as an active structural core, meta-chloro and ortho-nitro groups on the A-ring (either pyridine or phenyl ring) were necessary and crucial for cytotoxic activity, and the para-substituents on the other phenyl ring (B-ring) were related to inhibitory selectivity for different tumor cells. In an investigation of potential biological targets of the new leads, high thoughput kinase screening discovered that new leads 11e, 12 and 13b especially inhibit Mer tyrosine kinase, a proto-oncogene associated with munerous tumor types, with IC(50) values of 2.2-3.0μM. Therefore, these findings provide a good starting point to optimize a new class of compounds as potential anticancer agents, particularly targeting Mer tyrosine kinase.

Discovery of novel andrographolide derivatives as cytotoxic agents

The natural diterpenoid andrographolide (1) exhibits various biological activities. Seventeen derivatives of 1 were prepared via esterification and etherification of 14-dehydroxy-11,12-didehydroandrographolide (2). Most derivatives demonstrated significant inhibition against tumor cell growth. The most active compounds, 3b and 3c, had GI50 values of 1.46-9.19 μM against A549, DU145, KB and KB-Vin tumor cells. In an immunocytochemical study, treatment with compound 3c disrupted microtubule dynamics in PC-3 cells, but caused no accumulation of metaphase cells, which is a phenotype dissimilar from that of 1. This difference suggests that structural modification of 1 resulted in a shift in the underlying molecular mechanism.

Cytotoxic esterified diterpenoid alkaloid derivatives with increased selectivity against a drug-resistant cancer cell line

C-6 Esterifications of delpheline (1) were carried out to provide 20 new diterpenoid alkaloid derivatives (4-22, 24). Three natural alkaloids (1-3) and all synthesized compounds (4-25) were evaluated for cytotoxic activity against lung (A549), prostate (DU145), nasopharyngeal (KB), and vincristine-resistant nasopharyngeal (KB-VIN) cancer cell lines and interestingly, showed an improved drug resistance profile compared to paclitaxel. Particularly, 6-(4-fluoro-3-methylbenzoyl)delpheline (22) displayed 2.6-fold greater potency against KB-VIN cells compared with the parental non-drug resistant KB cells. 6-Acylation of 1 appears to be critical for producing cytotoxic activity in this alkaloid class and a means to provide promising new leads for further development into antitumor agents.