SZC-6, a small-molecule activator of SIRT3, attenuates cardiac hypertrophy in mice.

Sirtuin3 (SIRT3), a class III histone deacetylase, is implicated in various cardiovascular diseases as a novel therapeutic target. SIRT3 has been proven to be cardioprotective in a model of Ang II-induced cardiac hypertrophy. However, a few small-molecule compounds targeting deacetylases could activate SIRT3. In this study, we generated a novel SIRT3 activator, 3-(2-bromo-4-hydroxyphenyl)-7-hydroxy-2H-chromen-2-one (SZC-6), through structural optimization of the first SIRT3 agonist C12. We demonstrated that SZC-6 directly bound to SIRT3 with Kd value of 15 µM, and increased SIRT3 deacetylation activity with EC50 value of 23.2 ± 3.3 µM. In neonatal rat cardiomyocytes (NRCMs), pretreatment with SZC-6 (10, 20, 40 µM) dose-dependently attenuated isoproterenol (ISO)-induced hypertrophic responses. Administration of SZC-6 (20, 40 and 60 mg·kg-1·d-1, s.c.) for 2 weeks starting from one week prior ISO treatment dose-dependently reversed ISO-induced impairment of diastolic and systolic cardiac function in wild-type mice, but not in SIRT3 knockdown mice. We showed that SZC-6 (10, 20, 40 µM) dose-dependently inhibited cardiac fibroblast proliferation and differentiation into myofibroblasts, which was abolished in SIRT3-knockdown mice. We further revealed that activation of SIRT3 by SZC-6 increased ATP production and rate of mitochondrial oxygen consumption, and reduced ROS, improving mitochondrial function in ISO-treated NRCMs. We also found that SZC-6 dose-dependently enhanced LKB1 phosphorylation, thereby promoting AMPK activation to inhibit Drp1-dependent mitochondrial fragmentation. Taken together, these results demonstrate that SZC-6 is a novel SIRT3 agonist with potential value in the treatment of cardiac hypertrophy partly through activation of the LKB1-AMPK pathway.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of novel (E)-N-phenyl-4-(pyridine-acylhydrazone) benzamide derivatives as potential antitumor agents for the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM).

A series of novel (E)-N-phenyl-4-(pyridine-acylhydrazone) benzamide derivatives were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their anti-proliferative activity against two different human cancer cell lines and one human normal cell line. Compound 8b had the best anti-proliferative activity (IC50 = 0.12 ± 0.09 µM, RPMI8226 cells) than the other compounds. And compound 8b had lower toxicity than imatinib. Flow cytometry analysis showed that compound 8b could arrest the cell cycle at the G0/G1 phase, and induce apoptosis of RPMI8226 cells by promoting mitochondrial ROS release, thereby effectively inhibiting cell proliferation. Our findings provided a promising lead compound 8b for further structural optimization and will be instructive for the discovery of more potent antitumor drugs with high selectivity and low toxicity.

Transgenic cotton co-expressing chimeric Vip3AcAa and Cry1Ac confers effective protection against Cry1Ac-resistant cotton bollworm.

Wide planting of transgenic Bt cotton in China since 1997 to control cotton bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera) has increased yields and decreased insecticide use, but the evolution of resistance to Bt cotton by H. armigera remains a challenge. Toward developing a new generation of insect-resistant transgenic crops, a chimeric protein of Vip3Aa1 and Vip3Ac1, named Vip3AcAa, having a broader insecticidal spectrum, was specifically created previously in our laboratory. In this study, we investigated cross resistance and interactions between Vip3AcAa and Cry1Ac with three H. armigera strains, one that is susceptible and two that are Cry1Ac-resistant, to determine if Vip3AcAa is a good candidate for development the pyramid cotton with Cry1Ac toxin. Our results showed that evolution of insect resistance to Cry1Ac toxin did not influence the sensitivity of Cry1Ac-resistant strains to Vip3AcAa. For the strains examined, observed mortality was equivalent to the expected mortality for all the combinations of Vip3AcAa and Cry1Ac tested, reflecting independent activity between these two toxins. When this chimeric vip3AcAa gene and the cry1Ac gene were introduced into cotton, mortality rates of Cry1Ac resistant H. armigera larvae strains that fed on this new cotton increased significantly compared with larvae fed on non-Bt cotton and cotton producing only Cry1Ac. These results suggest that the Vip3AcAa protein is an excellent option for a "pyramid" strategy for pest resistance management in China.

Transgenic cotton coexpressing Vip3A and Cry1Ac has a broad insecticidal spectrum against lepidopteran pests.

Although farmers in China have grown transgenic Bt-Cry1Ac cotton to resist the major pest Helicoverpa armigera since 1997 with great success, many secondary lepidopteran pests that are tolerant to Cry1Ac are now reported to cause considerable economic damage. Vip3AcAa, a chimeric protein with the N-terminal part of Vip3Ac and the C-terminal part of Vip3Aa, has a broad insecticidal spectrum against lepidopteran pests and has no cross resistance to Cry1Ac. In the present study, we tested insecticidal activities of Vip3AcAa against Spodoptera litura, Spodoptera exigua, and Agrotis ipsilon, which are relatively tolerant to Cry1Ac proteins. The bioassay results showed that insecticidal activities of Vip3AcAa against these three pests are superior to Cry1Ac, and after an activation pretreatment, Vip3AcAa retained insecticidal activity against S. litura, S. exigua and A. ipsilon that was similar to the unprocessed protein. The putative receptor for this chimeric protein in the brush border membrane vesicle (BBMV) in the three pests was also identified using biotinylated Vip3AcAa toxin. To broaden Bt cotton activity against a wider spectrum of pests, we introduced the vip3AcAa and cry1Ac genes into cotton. Larval mortality rates for S. litura, A. ipsilon and S. exigua that had fed on this new cotton increased significantly compared with larvae fed on non-Bt cotton and Bt-Cry1Ac cotton in a laboratory experiment. These results suggested that the Vip3AcAa protein is an excellent option for a "pyramid" strategy for integrated pest management in China.

Design, synthesis, and in vitro and in vivo anti-angiogenesis study of a novel vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR-2) inhibitor based on 1,2,3-triazole scaffold.

In the past five years, our team had been committed to click chemistry research, exploring the biological activity of 1,2,3-triazole by synthesizing different target inhibitors. In this study, a series of novel indole-2-one derivatives based on 1,2,3-triazole scaffolds were synthesized for the first time, and their inhibitory activity on vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR-2) was tested. Most of the compounds had shown promising activity in the VEGFR-2 kinase assay and had low toxicity to human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). The compound 13d (IC50 = 26.38 nM) had better kinase activity inhibition ability than sunitinib (IC50 = 83.20 nM) and was less toxic to HUVECs. Moreover, it had an excellent inhibitory effect on HT-29 and MKN-45 cells. On the one hand, by tube formation assay, transwell, and Western blot analysis, compound 13d could inhibit VEGFR-2 protein phosphorylate on HUVECs, thereby inhibiting HUVECs migration and tube formation. In vivo study, the zebrafish model with VEGFR-2 labeling also verified that compound 13d had more anti-angiogenesis ability than sunitinib. On the other hand, molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation results showed that compound 13d could stably bind to the active site of VEGFR-2. Based on the above findings, compound 13d could be considered an effective anti-angiogenesis drug and has more development value than sunitinib.

Development of a novel thymidylate synthase (TS) inhibitor capable of up-regulating P53 expression and inhibiting angiogenesis in NSCLC.

INTRODUCTION: The development of a new type of Thymidylate synthase (TS) inhibitor that could inhibit cancer cells' proliferation and anti-angiogenesis is of great significance for cancer's clinical treatment. OBJECTIVES: Our research hopes to develop a TS inhibitor that is more effective than the current first-line clinical treatment of pemetrexed (PTX) and provide a new reference for the clinical treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: We obtained a series of novel TS inhibitors by chemical synthesis. Moreover, TS assay and molecular docking to verify the target compound's inhibitory mode. Use MTT assay, colony-forming assay, flow cytometry, and western blot to verify the compound's inhibitory effect on cancer cell proliferation and its mechanism; and explore the compound's effect on angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo. Further, explore the hit compound's anti-cancer ability through the xenograft tumor model and the orthotopic cancer murine model. RESULTS: A series of N-(3-(5-phenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2-yl) phenyl)-2,4-dihydroxypyrimidine-5-sulfamide derivatives were synthesized as TS inhibitors for the first time. All target compounds significantly inhibited hTS enzyme activity and demonstrated significant antitumor activity against five cancer cell lines. Notably, 7f had a high selectivity index (SI) and unique inhibitory effects on eight NSCLC cells. In-depth research indicated that 7f could induce apoptosis by the mitochondrial pathway in A549 and PC-9 cells through the upregulation of wild-type P53 protein expression. Additionally, 7f was shown to inhibit angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo. In vivo studies, compared to PTX, 7f significantly inhibited tumor growth in A549 cell xenografts and had a higher therapeutic index (TGI). Moreover, 7f could prolong the survival of the orthotopic lung cancer murine model more effectively than PTX. CONCLUSION: The anti-angiogenic effect of 7f provides a new reference for the development of TS inhibitors and the clinical treatment of NSCLC.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of novel uracil derivatives bearing 1, 2, 3-triazole moiety as thymidylate synthase (TS) inhibitors and as potential antitumor drugs.

Research on thymidylate synthase inhibitors has been a hot spot for anticancer drug development. Here, based on the structures and pharmacological properties of two types of TS inhibitors, through a molecular assembly principle of drugs design, we designed and synthesized a series of 30 novel uracil derivatives as TS inhibitors. The antiproliferative ability of these compounds was evaluated against four cancer cell lines (A549, OVCAR-3, SGC-7901, and HepG2) by the MTT assay. Most of them showed excellent activities against all the tested cell lines. Furthermore, hTS assay results showed that these compounds have the unique ability to inhibit hTS activity in vitro. Notably, compound 13j exhibited the most potent activity against A549 cells (IC50 = 1.18 µM) and extremely prominent enzyme inhibition (IC50 = 0.13 µM), which was superior to the pemetrexed (PTX, IC50 = 3.29 µM and IC50 = 2.04 µM). Flow cytometric analysis showed the compound 13j could inhibit A549 cells proliferation by arresting the cell cycle in the G1/S phase, then induced the cell apoptosis. Further western blot analysis showed that compound 13j could down-regulate the cycle checkpoint proteins cyclin D1 and cyclin E to inhibit the cell cycle progression, and then induce intrinsic apoptosis by activating caspase-3, and reducing the ratio of bcl-2/bax. All of these results demonstrated that this new structure has potential drug-making properties and provides new ideas for drug development.

Discovery of N-phenyl-(2,4-dihydroxypyrimidine-5-sulfonamido) phenylurea-based thymidylate synthase (TS) inhibitor as a novel multi-effects antitumor drugs with minimal toxicity.

Thymidylate synthase (TS) is a hot target for tumor chemotherapy, and its inhibitors are an essential direction for anti-tumor drug research. To our knowledge, currently, there are no reported thymidylate synthase inhibitors that could inhibit cancer cell migration. Therefore, for optimal therapeutic purposes, combines our previous reports and findings, we hope to obtain a multi-effects inhibitor. This study according to the principle of flattening we designed and synthesized 18 of N-phenyl-(2,4-dihydroxypyrimidine-5-sulfonamido)phenyl urea derivatives as multi-effects inhibitors. The biological evaluation results showed that target compounds could significantly inhibit the hTS enzyme, BRaf kinase and EGFR kinase activity in vitro, and most of the compounds had excellent anti-cell viability for six cancer cell lines. Notably, the candidate compound L14e (IC50 = 0.67 µM) had the superior anti-cell viability and safety to A549 and H460 cells compared with pemetrexed. Further studies had shown that L14e could cause G1/S phase arrest then induce intrinsic apoptosis. Transwell, western blot, and tube formation results proved that L14e could inhibit the activation of the EGFR signaling pathway, then ultimately achieve the purpose of inhibiting cancer cell migration and angiogenesis in cancer tissues. Furthermore, in vivo pharmacology evaluations of L14e showed significant antitumor activity in A549 cells xenografts with minimal toxicity. All of these results demonstrated that the L14e has the potential for drug discovery as a multi-effects inhibitor and provides a new reference for clinical treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of N-phenyl-(2,4-dihydroxypyrimidine-5-sulfonamido)benzoyl hydrazide derivatives as thymidylate synthase (TS) inhibitors and as potential antitumor drugs.

The Inhibition of cellular nucleotide metabolism to promote apoptosis is a key principle of cancer therapy. Thymidylate synthase (TS) is a key rate-limiting enzyme in the initiation of DNA synthesis in cell. Here, we presented two types of thymidylate synthase inhibitors, and, the key pharmacological properties of these two types of thymidylate synthase inhibitor were extracted and combined to design new compounds with inhibitory activity. Therefore, two series of 42 new compounds with the common biological effect of promoting apoptosis are designed and synthesized by combination principle. Most of the compounds had good anti-proliferative activity on A549, OVCAR-3, SGC7901 and MDA-MB-231 cells. The IC50 of compound 10l on A549 cells was 1.26 µM, which was better than that of pemetrexed (PTX, IC50 = 3.31 µM), furthermore, the selection index of compound 10l was higher than PTX. Flow cytometry analysis showed that compound 10l (the apoptosis rate is 39.4%) could induce A549 cell apoptosis and effectively inhibit tumor cell proliferation. Further western blot analysis showed that compound 10l could induce intrinsic apoptosis by activating caspase-3, increasing expression of cleaved caspase-3 and reducing the ratio of bcl-2/bax. All of this makes compound 10l to be a promising compound in future animal tumor models.