Profiling approaches have been increasingly employed for the characterization of disease-relevant phenotypes or compound perturbation as they provide a broad, unbiased view on impaired cellular states. We report that morphological profiling using the cell painting assay (CPA) can detect modulators of de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis and of dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) in particular. The CPA can differentiate between impairment of pyrimidine and folate metabolism, which both affect cellular nucleotide pools. The identified morphological signature is shared by inhibitors of DHODH and the functionally tightly coupled complex III of the mitochondrial respiratory chain as well as by UMP synthase, which is downstream of DHODH. The CPA appears to be particularly suited for the detection of DHODH inhibitors at the site of their action in cells. As DHODH is a validated therapeutic target, the CPA will enable unbiased identification of DHODH inhibitors and inhibitors of de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis for biological research and drug discovery.
Oxindoles and iso‐oxindoles are natural product‐derived scaffolds that provide inspiration for the design and synthesis of novel biologically relevant compound classes. Notably, the spirocyclic connection of oxindoles with iso‐oxindoles has not been explored by nature but promises to provide structurally related compounds endowed with novel bioactivity. Therefore, methods for their efficient synthesis and the conclusive discovery of their cellular targets are highly desirable. We describe a selective RhIII‐catalyzed scaffold‐divergent synthesis of spirooxindole–isooxindoles and spirooxindole–oxindoles from differently protected diazooxindoles and N‐pivaloyloxy aryl amides which includes a functional group‐controlled Lossen rearrangement as key step. Unbiased morphological profiling of a corresponding compound collection in the Cell Painting assay efficiently identified the mitotic kinesin Eg5 as the cellular target of the spirooxindoles, defining a unique Eg5 inhibitor chemotype.
Oxindoles and iso‐oxindoles are natural product‐derived scaffolds that provide inspiration for the design and synthesis of novel biologically relevant compound classes. Notably, the spirocyclic connection of oxindoles with iso‐oxindoles has not been explored by nature but promises to provide structurally related compounds endowed with novel bioactivity. Therefore, methods for their efficient synthesis and the conclusive discovery of their cellular targets are highly desirable. We describe a selective RhIII‐catalyzed scaffold‐divergent synthesis of spirooxindole–isooxindoles and spirooxindole–oxindoles from differently protected diazooxindoles and N‐pivaloyloxy aryl amides which includes a functional group‐controlled Lossen rearrangement as key step. Unbiased morphological profiling of a corresponding compound collection in the Cell Painting assay efficiently identified the mitotic kinesin Eg5 as the cellular target of the spirooxindoles, defining a unique Eg5 inhibitor chemotype.
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