No abstract

In only two steps and in 70% overall yield, naturally occurring trioxane artemisinin (1) was converted on a gram scale into C-10-carba trioxane dimer 3. This new, very stable dimer was then transformed easily in one additional step into four different dimers 4-7. Alcohol and diol dimers 4 and 5 and ketone dimer 7 are 10 times more antimalarially potent in vitro than artemisinin (1), and alcohol and diol dimers 4 and 5 are strongly growth inhibitory but not cytotoxic toward several human cancer cell lines. Water-soluble carboxylic acid derivatives 8aand 9 were easily prepared in one additional step from dimers 4 and 5. Carboxylic acid dimers 8a and 9 are thermally stable even at 60 degrees C for 24 h, are more orally efficacious as antimalarials in rodents than either artelinic acid or sodium artesunate, and are strongly inhibitory but not cytotoxic toward several human cancer cell lines.

In only four chemical steps from naturally occurring artemisinin (1), trioxane dimers 6 and 7 were prepared on a multigram scale in overall 32-44% yields. In mice, both isonicotinate N-oxide dimer 6 and isobutyric acid dimer 7 were considerably more antimalarially efficacious than clinically used sodium artesunate (2) via both oral and intravenous administration. In the transgenic adenocarcinoma of mouse prostate model, some of the trioxane dimers had potent anticancer activity.

The mechanisms of action of three C-10 non-acetal trioxane dimers (TDs) were examined in human (LNCaP) and mouse (TRAMP-C1A and -C2H) prostate cancer cell lines. 1(AJM3/23), 2(GHP-TM-III-07w, 3(GHP-KB-06) inhibited cell growth with 3 being the most potent in C1A (GI 50 = 18.0 nM), C2H (GI 50 = 17.0 nM) and LNCaP (GI 50 = 17.9 nM) cells. In comparison to a standard cytotoxic agent such as doxorubicin (GI 50 = 45.3 nM), 3 (GI 50 = 17.9 nM) inhibited LNCaP cell growth more potently. TDs induced G 0 /G 1 cell cycle arrest in LNCaP cells and decreased cells in the S phase. These changes correlated with modulation of G 1 phase cell cycle proteins including decreased cyclin D1, cyclin E, cdk2; and increased p21 waf1 and p27 Kip1 . TDs also promoted apoptosis in LNCaP cells with increased expression of pro-apoptotic bax. These results demonstrate that TDs are potentially useful agents that warrant further preclinical development for treatment of prostate cancer.

No abstract

Bispecific degraders (PROTACs) of ERα are expected to be advantageous over current inhibitors of ERα signaling (aromatase inhibitors/SERMs/SERDs) used to treat ER+ breast cancer. Information from DNA-encoded chemical library (DECL) screening provides a method to identify novel PROTAC binding features as the linker positioning, and binding elements are determined directly from the screen. After screening ∼120 billion DNA-encoded molecules with ERα WT and 3 gain-of-function (GOF) mutants, with and without estradiol to identify features that enrich ERα competitively, the off-DNA synthesized small molecule exemplar 7 exhibited nanomolar ERα binding, antagonism, and degradation. Click chemistry synthesis on an alkyne E3 ligase engagers panel and an azide variant of 7 rapidly generated bispecific nanomolar degraders of ERα, with PROTACs 18 and 21 inhibiting ER+ MCF7 tumor growth in a mouse xenograft model of breast cancer. This study validates this approach toward identifying novel bispecific degrader leads from DECL screening with minimal optimization.

The partial reduction of a series of electron deficient pyridines to give both 1,2-and 2,5-dihydropyridines is described. The factors that lead to formation of such dihydropyridines are discussed and it was found that, generally, the presence of two activating groups on the pyridine nucleus is optimal. A series of 2-alkyl-1,2dihydropyridines was prepared using either Birch or sodium naphthalenide reducing conditions and some preliminary derivatisation chemistry has been examined. The identity of three relevant nitrogen containing heterocycles was proven by X-ray crystallography.

Herein we report the discovery of 2,4-1H-imidazole carboxamides as novel, biochemically potent, and kinome selective inhibitors of transforming growth factor β-activated kinase 1 (TAK1). The target was subjected to a DNA-encoded chemical library (DECL) screen. After hit analysis a cluster of compounds was identified, which was based on a central pyrrole-2,4-1H-dicarboxamide scaffold, showing remarkable kinome selectivity. A scaffold-hop to the corresponding imidazole resulted in increased biochemical potency. Next, X-ray crystallography revealed a distinct binding mode compared to other TAK1 inhibitors. A benzylamide was found in a perpendicular orientation with respect to the core hinge-binding imidazole. Additionally, an unusual amide flip was observed in the kinase hinge region. Using structure-based drug design (SBDD), key substitutions at the pyrrolidine amide and the glycine resulted in a significant increase in biochemical potency.