Iron deficiency and its epigenetic effects on iron homeostasis.

Iron deficiency is a common micronutrient deficiency associated with metabolic changes in the levels of iron regulatory proteins, hepcidin and ferroportin. Studies have associated dysregulation of iron homeostasis to other secondary and life-threatening diseases including anaemia, neurodegeneration and metabolic diseases. Iron deficiency plays a critical role in epigenetic regulation by affecting the Fe2+/α-ketoglutarate-dependent demethylating enzymes, Ten Eleven Translocase 1-3 (TET 1-3) and Jumonji-C (JmjC) histone demethylase, which are involved in epigenetic erasure of the methylation marks on both DNA and histone tails, respectively. In this review, studies involving epigenetic effects of iron deficiency associated with dysregulation of TET 1-3 and JmjC histone demethylase enzyme activities on hepcidin/ferroportin axis are discussed.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of benzo[d]imidazole derivatives as potential anti-cancer agents.

We herein report the synthesis, biological activity and structure-activity relationship of derivatives of 5,6-dichloro-1-ß-D-ribofuranosylbenzimidazole and benzo[d]imidazole. A lead compound 6o demonstrates potent anti-proliferative activity and the ability to induce cancer cell apoptosis.

Structure-based design of highly selective 2,4,5-trisubstituted pyrimidine CDK9 inhibitors as anti-cancer agents.

Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) are a family of Ser/Thr kinases involved in cell cycle and transcriptional regulation. CDK9 regulates transcriptional elongation and this unique property has made it a potential target for several diseases. Due to the conserved ATP binding site, designing selective CDK9 inhibitors has been challenging. Here we report our continued efforts in the optimization of 2,4,5-tri-substituted pyrimidine compounds as potent and selective CDK9 inhibitors. The most selective compound 30m was >100-fold selective for CDK9 over CDK1 and CDK2. These compounds showed broad anti-proliferative activities in various solid tumour cell lines and patient-derived chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) cells. Decreased phosphorylation of the carboxyl terminal domain (CTD) of RNAPII at Ser-2 and down-regulation of anti-apoptotic protein Mcl-1 were confirmed in both the ovarian cancer model A2780 and patient-derived CLL cells.

Targeting RNA transcription and translation in ovarian cancer cells with pharmacological inhibitor CDKI-73.

Dysregulation of cellular transcription and translation is a fundamental hallmark of cancer. As CDK9 and Mnks play pivotal roles in the regulation of RNA transcription and protein synthesis, respectively, they are important targets for drug development. We herein report the cellular mechanism of a novel CDK9 inhibitor CDKI-73 in an ovarian cancer cell line (A2780). We also used shRNA-mediated CDK9 knockdown to investigate the importance of CDK9 in the maintenance of A2780 cells. This study revealed that CDKI-73 rapidly inhibited cellular CDK9 kinase activity and down-regulated the RNAPII phosphorylation. This subsequently caused a decrease in the eIF4E phosphorylation by blocking Mnk1 kinase activity. Consistently, CDK9 shRNA was also found to down-regulate the Mnk1 expression. Both CDKI-73 and CDK9 shRNA decreased anti-apoptotic proteins Mcl-1 and Bcl-2 and induced apoptosis. The study confirmed that CDK9 is required for cell survival and that ovarian cancer may be susceptible to CDK9 inhibition strategy. The data also implied a role of CDK9 in eIF4E-mediated translational control, suggesting that CDK9 may have important implication in the Mnk-eIF4E axis, the key determinants of PI3K/Akt/mTOR- and Ras/Raf/MAPK-mediated tumorigenic activity. As such, CDK9 inhibitor drug candidate CDKI-73 should have a major impact on these pathways in human cancers.

Discovery of (E)-3-((styrylsulfonyl)methyl)pyridine and (E)-2-((styrylsulfonyl)methyl)pyridine derivatives as anticancer agents: synthesis, structure-activity relationships, and biological activities.

ON01910.Na is a highly effective anticancer agent that induces mitotic arrest and apoptosis. Clinical studies with ON01910 in cancer patients have shown efficacy along with an impressive safety profile. While ON01910 is highly active against cancer cells, it has a low oral availability and requires continuous intravenous infusion or multiple gram doses to ensure sufficient drug exposure for biological activity in patients. We have identified two novel series of styrylsulfonyl-methylpyridines. Lead compounds 8, 9a, 18 and 19a are highly potent mitotic inhibitors and selectively cytotoxic to cancer cells. Impressively, these compounds possess excellent pharmaceutical properties and two lead drug candidates 9a and 18 demonstrated antitumor activities in animal models.

Substituted 4-(thiazol-5-yl)-2-(phenylamino)pyrimidines are highly active CDK9 inhibitors: synthesis, X-ray crystal structures, structure-activity relationship, and anticancer activities.

Cancer cells often have a high demand for antiapoptotic proteins in order to resist programmed cell death. CDK9 inhibition selectively targets survival proteins and reinstates apoptosis in cancer cells. We designed a series of 4-thiazol-2-anilinopyrimidine derivatives with functional groups attached to the C5-position of the pyrimidine or to the C4-thiazol moiety and investigated their effects on CDK9 potency and selectivity. One of the most selective compounds, 12u inhibits CDK9 with IC(50) = 7 nM and shows over 80-fold selectivity for CDK9 versus CDK2. X-ray crystal structures of 12u bound to CDK9 and CDK2 provide insights into the binding modes. This work, together with crystal structures of selected inhibitors in complex with both enzymes described in a companion paper, (34) provides a rationale for the observed SAR. 12u demonstrates potent anticancer activity against primary chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells with a therapeutic window 31- and 107-fold over those of normal B- and T-cells.