Lingjian Zhu

Discovery, synthesis, and biological evaluation of orally active pyrrolidone derivatives as novel inhibitors of p53-MDM2 protein-protein interaction.

The p53-MDM2 interaction has been proved to be a valuable target to develop effective antitumor agents. Novel p53-MDM2 inhibitors bearing pyrrolidone scaffolds were successfully identified by structure-based design. The nanomolar inhibitor 5 possessed good p53-MDM2 inhibitory activity (K(i) = 780 nM) due to its hydrophobic and hydrogen bonding interactions with MDM2. Further hit optimization led to the discovery of a number of highly potent pyrrolidone derivatives with improved p53-MDM2 inhibitory activity and in vitro antiproliferative potency. Compounds 41 (K(i) = 260.0 nM) and 60a (K(i) = 150.0 nM) showed good and selective activity against tumor cells with deleted p53. In addition, these two compounds also effectively inhibited the tumor growth in the A549 xenograft model. Interestingly, compound 41 was proved to be a potent MDM2/MDMX dual inhibitor. The novel pyrrolidone p53-MDM2 inhibitors represent promising lead structures for the development of novel antitumor agents.

A new strategy to improve the metabolic stability of lactone: discovery of (20S,21S)-21-fluorocamptothecins as novel, hydrolytically stable topoisomerase I inhibitors.

Lactone is a common structural motif in biologically active natural products. However, the metabolic instability of lactone significantly reduces their in vivo potency. In the present investigation, a new strategy to improve the metabolic stability of lactone was provided by the design of α-fluoro ether as a novel bioisostere of lactone. The effectiveness of the α-fluoro ether/lactone replacement was validated by the discovery of (20S,21S)-21-fluorocamptothecins as hydrolytically stable topoisomerase I inhibitors. A highly potent camptothecin derivative, 8l, was successfully identified, which showed excellent in vitro and in vivo antitumor activities and represents a promising lead for the discovery of novel antitumor agents. Interestingly, this study also provided a new structure-activity relationship for the C21-carbonyl group of camptothecin, which has been regarded as an essential pharmacophore. Our results revealed that the conserved C21-carbonyl group can be replaced by a fluorine substituent. α-Fluoro ether may have general application in improving the metabolic stability of lactone.

Trifluoromethyl-promoted homocamptothecins: Synthesis and biological activity

The homocamptothecin (hCPT) represents a new class of topoisomerase inhibitor which combines enhanced plasma stability and strong antitumor activity. Fluorine imparts desirable characteristics to drugs by modulating both the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamic properties of a drug. Therefore, in an attempt to improve the antitumor activity of homocamptothecins, seven new 7-trifluoromethylated homocamptothecin derivatives were prepared by proline-catalyzed Friedlander annulation. The antitumor activity in vitro and in vivo on cancer cell lines, and inhibitory properties of topoisomerase I-mediated DNA cleavage of compounds 6c and 8b were evaluated. Several of these trifluoromethylated hCPT derivatives (such as 6a, 6b and 6c) possessed higher in vitro antitumor activity than topotecan (TPT). Especially, the compound 6c showed effective in vivo antitumor activity comparable to that of TPT.

Structure–activity relationship and antitumor activity of thio-benzodiazepines as p53–MDM2 protein–protein interaction inhibitors

In order to discuss the structure-activity relationship (SAR) of the thio-benzodiazepine compounds which showed excellent activity against p53-MDM2 protein-protein interaction, we designed and synthesized twenty compounds with electrophilic and nucleophilic groups on the benzene ring. Among them, compounds 8i (K(i) = 91 nM) and 8n (K(i) = 89 nM) showed better binding activity than that of the reference drug Nutlin-3a (K(i) = 121 nM). In addition, in vitro antitumor activity against Saos-2, U-2 OS, A549 and NCI-H1299 cell-lines were assayed by the MTT method. Especially, compounds 8i and 8n possessed excellent biological activity and good selectivity comparable to Nutlin-3a, which were promising candidates for further evaluation.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of thio-benzodiazepines as novel small molecule inhibitors of the p53-MDM2 protein-protein interaction.

A series of thio-benzodiazepine p53-MDM2 inhibitors were designed and synthesized based on the principle of bioisosterism. Most of the thio-benzodiazepines had nanomolar to micromolar affinity toward MDM2. Particularly, compounds 8a (K(i) = 0.52μM) and 8f (K(i) = 0.32 μM) showed binding activity comparable to the positive drug nutlin-3a (K(i) = 0.23 μM). Meanwhile, compound 8j exhibited excellent antitumor activity against the U-2 OS human osteosarcoma cell line with an IC(50) value of 1.06 μM, which was about 23 times higher than that of nutlin-3a. The docking model also successfully predicted that this class of compounds mimicked three p53 critical residues binding to MDM2. The thio-benzodiazepines represent a promising class of non-peptide inhibitors of the p53-MDM2 interaction.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel 7-acyl homocamptothecins as Topoisomerase I inhibitors

A series of novel 7-acyl derivatives of homocamptothecin (hCPT) were designed and synthesized with the purpose to improve antitumor activity of hCPT, via Minisci free-radical reaction from 10-methoxyhomocamptothecin. All the compounds were evaluated for in vitro cytotoxicity against three cancer cell lines (A549, MDA-MB-435 and HCT116). For MDA-MB-435 cell line, compounds, 6a, 6b, 6k and all of 7-alkylcabonyl homocamptothecin derivatives showed higher in vitro inhibitory activities than topotecan (TPT). Furthermore, compounds 6d, 6e, and 6k showed highly potent inhibitory activities with the IC50 values from less than 1 nM to 2.2 nM. In Topoisomerase I (Topo I)-induced DNA cleavage assay, compounds 6a, 6d, and 6k, as compared to CPT, revealed higher Topo I inhibitory activity.

Design, synthesis and structure–activity relationships of new triazole derivatives containing N-substituted phenoxypropylamino side chains

The incidence of invasive fungal infections and resistance to antifungal agents is increasing dramatically. It is highly desirable to develop novel azoles with improved biological profiles. The structure-activity relationship (SAR) of the N-substitutions was investigated in this study. In vitro antifungal activities revealed that sterically large groups were not favored for the N-substitutions. The removal of the N-substitutions had little effect on the antifungal activity. Two compounds with free amine group (i.e.9a and 10a) showed excellent activity with broad antifungal spectrum. The SAR results were supported by molecular docking and the N-substitutions were found to be important for the conformation of the side chains. The SAR and binding mode of the azoles are useful for further lead optimization.

Synthesis and preliminary bioevaluation of novel E-ring modified acetal analog of camptothecin as cytotoxic agents

In an effort to improve the metabolic stability of the E-ring and decrease the toxicity of camptothecin (CPT), a novel cytotoxic acetal analog with 21-alkoxy groups was designed and synthesized. The preliminary results revealed that this class of compounds showed superior antiproliferative activity in vitro and moderate in vivo activity, while their topoisomerase I (Topo I) inhibitory activity was weakened significantly. The implications of these results within the current understanding of the structure-activity relationship of camptothecin are analyzed in detail. The obtained information provides insight into the role of the 21-carbonyl group in the binding of CPT to Topo I-DNA complex.

Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Novel Homocamptothecins Conjugating with Dihydropyrimidine Derivatives as Potent Topoisomerase I Inhibitors

Homocamptothecin (hCPT) is a camptothecin (CPT) homologue with the insertion of a methylene (CH2) spacer between the alcohol moiety and carbonyl group of the classical six‐membered α‐hydroxylactone ring. This modification provides higher lactone stability and did not impair its activity against topoisomerase I (Topo I), but rather appears to improve it compared to CPT. In an attempt to improve the antitumor activity of homocamptothecins, a series of novel hCPT derivatives conjugating with dihydropyrimidine (DHPM) derivatives was designed and synthesized based on a synthetic route which couples 7‐formylhomocamptothecin with different dihydropyrimidine derivates. Most of the synthesized compounds exhibited good antiproliferative activity on tumor cell lines A549, MDA‐MB‐435 and HCT116. Furthermore, this class of compounds showed superior Topo I inhibition activity comparable to or higher than CPT.

Synthesis and evaluation of 9-benzylideneamino derivatives of homocamptothecin as potent inhibitors of DNA topoisomerase I

A series of novel 9-benzylideneamino derivatives of homocamptothecin were synthesized via Friedlaender cyclization from our obtained intermediate 5. All the compounds were evaluated for in vitro cytotoxicity against three cancer cell lines (A549, LOVO and MDA-MB-435). Most of these derivatives possessed potent growth inhibitory effect on all the tested cell lines and four compounds (6d, 6f, 6i, 6k) showed higher inhibitory activities with the IC50 values of 2.3 nM-9.8 nM against breast cancer cell than topotecan. As compared to CPT, compound 6f revealed higher topoisomerase I inhibitory activity.