Preclinical small molecule WEHI-7326 overcomes drug resistance and elicits response in patient-derived xenograft models of human treatment-refractory tumors.

Targeting cell division by chemotherapy is a highly effective strategy to treat a wide range of cancers. However, there are limitations of many standard-of-care chemotherapies: undesirable drug toxicity, side-effects, resistance and high cost. New small molecules which kill a wide range of cancer subtypes, with good therapeutic window in vivo, have the potential to complement the current arsenal of anti-cancer agents and deliver improved safety profiles for cancer patients. We describe results with a new anti-cancer small molecule, WEHI-7326, which causes cell cycle arrest in G2/M, cell death in vitro, and displays efficacious anti-tumor activity in vivo. WEHI-7326 induces cell death in a broad range of cancer cell lines, including taxane-resistant cells, and inhibits growth of human colon, brain, lung, prostate and breast tumors in mice xenografts. Importantly, the compound elicits tumor responses as a single agent in patient-derived xenografts of clinically aggressive, treatment-refractory neuroblastoma, breast, lung and ovarian cancer. In combination with standard-of-care, WEHI-7326 induces a remarkable complete response in a mouse model of high-risk neuroblastoma. WEHI-7326 is mechanistically distinct from known microtubule-targeting agents and blocks cells early in mitosis to inhibit cell division, ultimately leading to apoptotic cell death. The compound is simple to produce and possesses favorable pharmacokinetic and toxicity profiles in rodents. It represents a novel class of anti-cancer therapeutics with excellent potential for further development due to the ease of synthesis, simple formulation, moderate side effects and potent in vivo activity. WEHI-7326 has the potential to complement current frontline anti-cancer drugs and to overcome drug resistance in a wide range of cancers.

Development of an automated assay for accelerated in vitro detection of DNA adduct-inducing and crosslinking agents.

Current techniques for the identification of DNA adduct-inducing and DNA interstrand crosslinking agents include electrophoretic crosslinking assays, electrophoretic gel shift assays, DNA and RNA stop assays, mass spectrometry-based methods and 32P-post-labelling. While these assays provide considerable insight into the site and stability of the interaction, they are relatively expensive, time-consuming and sometimes rely on the use of radioactively-labelled components, and thus are ill-suited to screening large numbers of compounds. A novel medium throughput assay was developed to overcome these limitations and was based on the attachment of a biotin-tagged double stranded (ds) oligonucleotide to Corning DNA-Bind plates. We aimed to detect anthracycline and anthracenedione DNA adducts which form by initial non-covalent intercalation with duplex DNA, and subsequent covalent adduct formation which is mediated by formaldehyde. Following drug treatment, DNA samples were subjected to a denaturation step, washing and then measurement by fluorescence to detect remaining drug-DNA species using streptavidin-europium. This dissociation-enhanced lanthanide fluorescent immunoassay (DELFIA) is a time-resolved fluorescence intensity assay where the fluorescence signal arises only from stabilised drug-DNA complexes. We applied this new methodology to the identification of anthracycline-like compounds with the ability to functionally crosslink double-strand oligonucleotides. The entire procedure can be performed by robotics, requiring low volumes of compounds and reagents, thereby reducing costs and enabling multiple compounds to be assessed on a single microtitre plate.

A small molecule interacts with VDAC2 to block mouse BAK-driven apoptosis.

Activating the intrinsic apoptosis pathway with small molecules is now a clinically validated approach to cancer therapy. In contrast, blocking apoptosis to prevent the death of healthy cells in disease settings has not been achieved. Caspases have been favored, but they act too late in apoptosis to provide long-term protection. The critical step in committing a cell to death is activation of BAK or BAX, pro-death BCL-2 proteins mediating mitochondrial damage. Apoptosis cannot proceed in their absence. Here we show that WEHI-9625, a novel tricyclic sulfone small molecule, binds to VDAC2 and promotes its ability to inhibit apoptosis driven by mouse BAK. In contrast to caspase inhibitors, WEHI-9625 blocks apoptosis before mitochondrial damage, preserving cellular function and long-term clonogenic potential. Our findings expand on the key role of VDAC2 in regulating apoptosis and demonstrate that blocking apoptosis at an early stage is both advantageous and pharmacologically tractable.

Mitoxantrone, More than Just Another Topoisomerase II Poison.

Mitoxantrone is a synthetic anthracenedione originally developed to improve the therapeutic profile of the anthracyclines and is commonly applied in the treatment of breast and prostate cancers, lymphomas, and leukemias. A comprehensive overview of the drug's molecular, biochemical, and cellular pharmacology is presented here, beginning with the cardiotoxic nature of its predecessor doxorubicin and how these properties shaped the pharmacology of mitoxantrone itself. Although mitoxantrone is firmly established as a DNA topoisomerase II poison within mammalian cells, it is now clear that the drug interacts with a much broader range of biological macromolecules both covalently and noncovalently. Here, we consider each of these interactions in the context of their wider biological relevance to cancer therapy and highlight how they may be exploited to further enhance the therapeutic value of mitoxantrone. In doing so, it is now clear that mitoxantrone is more than just another topoisomerase II poison.

Discovery of a Potent and Selective BCL-XL Inhibitor with in Vivo Activity.

A-1155463, a highly potent and selective BCL-XL inhibitor, was discovered through nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) fragment screening and structure-based design. This compound is substantially more potent against BCL-XL-dependent cell lines relative to our recently reported inhibitor, WEHI-539, while possessing none of its inherent pharmaceutical liabilities. A-1155463 caused a mechanism-based and reversible thrombocytopenia in mice and inhibited H146 small cell lung cancer xenograft tumor growth in vivo following multiple doses. A-1155463 thus represents an excellent tool molecule for studying BCL-XL biology as well as a productive lead structure for further optimization.

Structure-Guided Rescaffolding of Selective Antagonists of BCL-XL.

Because of the promise of BCL-2 antagonists in combating chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), interest in additional selective antagonists of antiapoptotic proteins has grown. Beginning with a series of selective, potent BCL-XL antagonists containing an undesirable hydrazone functionality, in silico design and X-ray crystallography were utilized to develop alternative scaffolds that retained the selectivity and potency of the starting compounds.

Apicoplast acetyl Co-A carboxylase of the human malaria parasite is not targeted by cyclohexanedione herbicides.

Malaria parasites retain a relict plastid (apicoplast) from a photosynthetic ancestor. The apicoplast is a useful drug target but the specificity of compounds believed to target apicoplast fatty acid biosynthesis has become uncertain, as this pathway is not essential in blood stages of the parasite. Herbicides that inhibit the plastid acetyl Coenzyme A (Co-A) carboxylase of plants also kill Plasmodium falciparum in vitro, but their mode of action remains undefined. We characterised the gene for acetyl Co-A carboxylase in P. falciparum. The P. falciparum acetyl-CoA carboxylase gene product is expressed in blood stage parasites and accumulates in the apicoplast. Ablation of the gene did not render parasites insensitive to herbicides, suggesting that these compounds are acting off-target in blood stages of P. falciparum.

Structure-guided design of a selective BCL-X(L) inhibitor.

The prosurvival BCL-2 family protein BCL-X(L) is often overexpressed in solid tumors and renders malignant tumor cells resistant to anticancer therapeutics. Enhancing apoptotic responses by inhibiting BCL-X(L) will most likely have widespread utility in cancer treatment and, instead of inhibiting multiple prosurvival BCL-2 family members, a BCL-X(L)-selective inhibitor would be expected to minimize the toxicity to normal tissues. We describe the use of a high-throughput screen to discover a new series of small molecules targeting BCL-X(L) and their structure-guided development by medicinal chemistry. The optimized compound, WEHI-539 (7), has high affinity (subnanomolar) and selectivity for BCL-X(L) and potently kills cells by selectively antagonizing its prosurvival activity. WEHI-539 will be an invaluable tool for distinguishing the roles of BCL-X(L) from those of its prosurvival relatives, both in normal cells and notably in malignant tumor cells, many of which may prove to rely upon BCL-X(L) for their sustained growth.

An Orally Available 3-Ethoxybenzisoxazole Capsid Binder with Clinical Activity against Human Rhinovirus.

Respiratory infections caused by human rhinovirus are responsible for severe exacerbations of underlying clinical conditions such as asthma in addition to their economic cost in terms of lost working days due to illness. While several antiviral compounds for treating rhinoviral infections have been discovered, none have succeeded, to date, in reaching approval for clinical use. We have developed a potent, orally available rhinovirus inhibitor 6 that has progressed through early clinical trials. The compound shows favorable pharmacokinetic and activity profiles and has a confirmed mechanism of action through crystallographic studies of a rhinovirus-compound complex. The compound has now progressed to phase IIb clinical studies of its effect on natural rhinovirus infection in humans.

M2, a novel anthracenedione, elicits a potent DNA damage response that can be subverted through checkpoint kinase inhibition to generate mitotic catastrophe.

Pixantrone is a promising anti-cancer aza-anthracenedione that has prompted the development of new anthracenediones incorporating symmetrical side-chains of increasing length varying from two to five methylene units in each pair of drug side-chains. A striking relationship has emerged in which anthracenedione-induced growth inhibition and apoptosis was inversely associated with side-chain length, a relationship that was attributable to a differential ability to stabilise the topoisomerase II (TOP2) cleavage complex. Processing of the complex to a DNA double strand break (DSB) flanked by γH2AX in nuclear foci is likely to occur, as the generation of the primary lesion was antecedent to γH2AX induction. M2, bearing the shortest pair of side-chains, induced TOP2-mediated DSBs efficiently and activated cell cycle checkpoints via Chk1 and Chk2 phosphorylation, implicating the involvement of ATM and ATR, and induced a protracted S phase and subsequent G2/M arrest. The inactive analogue M5, containing the longest pair of side-chains, only weakly stimulated any of these responses, suggesting that efficient stabilisation of the TOP2 cleavage complex was crucial for eliciting a strong DNA damage response (DDR). An M2 induced DDR in p53-defective MDA-MB-231 cells was abrogated by UCN-01, a ubiquitous inhibitor of kinases including Chk1, in a response associated with substantial mitotic catastrophe and strong synergy. The rational selection of checkpoint kinase inhibitors may significantly enhance the therapeutic benefit of anthracenediones that efficiently stabilise the TOP2 cleavage complex.

New anthracenedione derivatives with improved biological activity by virtue of stable drug-DNA adduct formation.

Mitoxantrone is an anticancer agent that acts as a topoisomerase II poison, however, it can also be activated by formaldehyde to form DNA adducts. Pixantrone, a 2-aza-anthracenedione with terminal primary amino groups in its side chains, forms formaldehyde-mediated adducts with DNA more efficiently than mitoxantrone. Molecular modeling studies indicated that extension of the "linker" region of anthracenedione side arms would allow the terminal primary amino greater flexibility and thus access to the guanine residues on the opposite DNA strand. New derivatives based on the pixantrone and mitoxantrone backbones were synthesized, and these incorporated primary amino groups as well as extended side chains. The stability of DNA adducts increased with increasing side chain length of the derivatives. A mitoxantrone derivative bearing extended side chains (7) formed the most stable adducts with ∼100-fold enhanced stability compared to mitoxantrone. This finding is of great interest because long-lived drug-DNA adducts are expected to perturb DNA-dependent functions at all stages of the cell cycle.

Dimeric cyclohexane-1,3-dione oximes inhibit wheat acetyl-CoA carboxylase and show anti-malarial activity.

A series of dimeric 1,3-cyclohexanedione oxime ethers were synthesized and found to have significant antiplasmodial activity with IC(50)'s in the range 3-12 microM. The most active dimer was tested in the Plasmodium berghei mouse model of malaria and at a dose of 48 mg/kg gave a 45% reduction in parasitaemia. Several commercial herbicides, all known to be inhibitors of maize acetyl-CoA carboxylase, were also tested for antimalarial activity, but were essentially inactive with the exception of butroxydim which gave an IC(50) of 10 microM.

Inhibitors of Leishmania GDP-mannose pyrophosphorylase identified by high-throughput screening of small-molecule chemical library.

The current treatment for leishmaniasis is based on chemotherapy, which relies on a handful of drugs with serious limitations, such as high cost, toxicity, and a lack of efficacy in regions of endemicity. Therefore, the development of new, effective, and affordable antileishmanial drugs is a global health priority. Leishmania synthesizes a range of mannose-rich glycoconjugates that are essential for parasite virulence and survival. A prerequisite for glycoconjugate biosynthesis is the conversion of monosaccharides to the activated mannose donor, GDP-mannose, the product of a reaction catalyzed by GDP-mannose pyrophosphorylase (GDP-MP). The deletion of the gene encoding GDP-MP in Leishmania led to a total loss of virulence, indicating that the enzyme is an ideal drug target. We developed a phosphate sensor-based high-throughput screening assay to quantify the activity of GDP-MP and screened a library containing approximately 80,000 lead-like compounds for GDP-MP inhibitors. On the basis of their GDP-MP inhibitory properties and chemical structures, the activities of 20 compounds which were not toxic to mammalian cells were tested against ex vivo amastigotes and in macrophage amastigote assays. The most potent compound identified in the primary screen (compound 3), a quinoline derivative, demonstrated dose-dependent activity in both assays (50% inhibitory concentration = 21.9 microM in the macrophage assay) and was shown to be nontoxic to human fibroblasts. In order to elucidate signs of an early structure-activity relationship (SAR) for this class of compounds, we obtained and tested analogues of compound 3 and undertook limited medicinal chemistry optimization, which included the use of a number of SAR probes of the piperazinyl aryl substituent of compound 3. We have identified novel candidate compounds for the design and synthesis of antileishmanial therapeutics.

A different mechanism for the inhibition of the carboxyltransferase domain of acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase by tepraloxydim.

Acetyl-CoA carboxylases (ACCs) are crucial metabolic enzymes and are attractive targets for drug discovery. Haloxyfop and tepraloxydim belong to two distinct classes of commercial herbicides and kill sensitive plants by inhibiting the carboxyltransferase (CT) activity of ACC. Our earlier structural studies showed that haloxyfop is bound near the active site of the CT domain, at the interface of its dimer, and a large conformational change in the dimer interface is required for haloxyfop binding. We report here the crystal structure at 2.3 A resolution of the CT domain of yeast ACC in complex with tepraloxydim. The compound has a different mechanism of inhibiting the CT activity compared to haloxyfop, as well as the mammalian ACC inhibitor CP-640186. Tepraloxydim probes a different region of the dimer interface and requires only small but important conformational changes in the enzyme, in contrast to haloxyfop. The binding mode of tepraloxydim explains the structure-activity relationship of these inhibitors, and provides a molecular basis for their distinct sensitivity to some of the resistance mutations, as compared to haloxyfop. Despite the chemical diversity between haloxyfop and tepraloxydim, the compounds do share two binding interactions to the enzyme, which may be important anchoring points for the development of ACC inhibitors.

Trypanothione reductase high-throughput screening campaign identifies novel classes of inhibitors with antiparasitic activity.

High-throughput screening of 100,000 lead-like compounds led to the identification of nine novel chemical classes of trypanothione reductase (TR) inhibitors worthy of further investigation. Hits from five of these chemical classes have been developed further through different combinations of preliminary structure-activity relationship rate probing and assessment of antiparasitic activity, cytotoxicity, and chemical and in vitro metabolic properties. This has led to the identification of novel TR inhibitor chemotypes that are drug-like and display antiparasitic activity. For one class, a series of analogues have displayed a correlation between TR inhibition and antiparasitic activity. This paper explores the process of identifying, investigating, and evaluating a series of hits from a high-throughput screening campaign.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of analogues of the anti-tumor alkaloid naamidine A.

A small series of derivatives of the alkaloid naamidine A was synthesized and tested in vitro for their ability to inhibit mitogenesis in BaF/ERX cells. Replacement of the imidazole core with a thiazole was found to have only a minor effect on potency, and the 4-methoxybenzyl substituent of the natural product was shown to be unnecessary for activity.

Discovery of 2-iminobenzimidazoles as a new class of trypanothione reductase inhibitor by high-throughput screening.

A high-throughput screening campaign of a library of 100,000 lead-like compounds identified 2-iminobenzimidazoles as a novel class of trypanothione reductase inhibitors. These 2-iminobenzimidazoles display potent trypanocidal activity against Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense, do not inhibit closely related human glutathione reductase and have low cytotoxicity against mammalian cells.

A concise total synthesis of naamidine A.

[reaction: see text]. A total synthesis of naamidine A is reported. Key benefits of the described pathway include its brevity, its synthetic ease, and its flexibility with respect to the preparation of analogues. Formation of the 2-aminoimidazole core is achieved by condensation of the appropriate alpha-aminoketone with cyanamide.

Fluorescence and analytical ultracentrifugation analyses of the interaction of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor, tyrphostin AG 1478-mesylate, with albumin.

Quantifying the interaction of drugs with carrier proteins in plasma is of importance for understanding effective drug delivery to disease-affected tissues. In this study, we employed analytical ultracentrifugation and steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy to characterize the interaction of a potential new anticancer drug, AG 1478-mesylate, with plasma proteins in a suspension of normal serum albumin (NSA). We found that mesylate salt of AG 1478, an epidermal growth factor receptor kinase inhibitor, sediments in 0.1%(w/v) NSA as a complex with a sedimentation coefficient of 3.8 S. This is consistent with the size of human serum albumin. This interaction was quantitated by meniscus depletion sedimentation and fluorescence titration analyses. AG 1478-mesylate binds to albumin with an apparent single-site affinity (K(d)) of 120 microM. In this article, we show that the cyclodextrin carrier molecule, Captisol, increases the apparent affinity of the hydrophobic AG 1478-mesylate for albumin (K(d)=4-6 microM), and we propose that the AG 1478-mesylate-Captisol (1:1) complex binds to albumin with at least 10-fold higher affinity than does AG 1478-mesylate ligand alone. A fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl-sulfonic acid (FMS) derivative of the 6-aminoquinazoline analog of AG 1478, which was designed to have improved serum-binding properties, was shown by fluorescence analysis to bind with approximately 100-fold greater affinity than the parent compound. This has significant implications in the effective delivery of therapeutic agents in vivo.

Dimeric zanamivir conjugates with various linking groups are potent, long-lasting inhibitors of influenza neuraminidase including H5N1 avian influenza.

The synthesis, antiviral and pharmacokinetic properties of zanamivir (ZMV) dimers 8 and 13 are described. The compounds are highly potent neuraminidase (NA) inhibitors which, along with dimer 3, are being investigated as potential second generation inhaled therapies both for the treatment of influenza and for prophylactic use. They show outstanding activity in a 1 week mouse influenza prophylaxis assay, and compared with ZMV, high concentrations of 8 and 13 are found in rat lung tissue after 1 week. Retention of compounds in rat lung tissue correlated both with molecular weight (excluding 3 and 15) and with a capacity factor K' derived from immobilized artificial membrane (IAM) chromatography (including 3 and 15). Pharmacokinetic parameters for 3, 8 and 13 in rats show the compounds have short to moderate plasma half-lives, low clearances and low volumes of distribution. Dimer 3 shows NA inhibitory activity against N1 viruses including the recent highly pathogenic H5N1 A/Chicken/Vietnam/8/2004. In plaque reduction assays, 3, 8 and 13 show good to outstanding potency against a panel of nine flu A and B virus strains. Consistent with its shorter and more rigid linking group, dimer 8 has been successfully crystallized.