Small molecules that reactivate p53 in renal cell carcinoma reveal a NF-kappaB-dependent mechanism of p53 suppression in tumors.

Renal cell carcinomas (RCC) commonly retain wild-type but functionally inactive p53, which is repressed by an unknown dominant mechanism. To help reveal this mechanism, we screened a diverse chemical library for small molecules capable of restoring p53-dependent transactivation in RCC cells carrying a p53-responsive reporter. Among the compounds isolated were derivatives of 9-aminoacridine (9AA), including the antimalaria drug quinacrine, which strongly induced p53 function in RCC and other types of cancer cells. Induction of p53 by these compounds does not involve genotoxic stress and is mediated by suppression of NF-kappaB activity. In contrast to agents that target IkappaB kinase 2, 9AA and quinacrine can effectively suppress both basal and inducible activities of NF-kappaB, representing inhibitors of a previously undescribed type that convert NF-kappaB from a transactivator into a transrepressor, leading to accumulation of inactive nuclear complexes with unphosphorylated Ser-536 in the p65/RelA subunit. p53 function in RCC can be restored by ectopic expression of a superrepressor of IkappaB as effectively as by 9AA-derived compounds. These findings suggest that the complete or partial repression of p53 observed in many tumors can be the result of constitutive activation of NF-kappaB. The results demonstrate, in principle, the possibility to kill cancer cells selectively through simultaneous inhibition of NF-kappaB and activation of p53 by a single small molecule and suggest anticancer applications for the well known antimalaria drug quinacrine.

Application of a novel design paradigm to generate general nonpeptide combinatorial scaffolds mimicking beta turns: synthesis of ligands for somatostatin receptors.

Nonpeptide compounds that mimic bioactive peptides are desirable for a number of clinical indications. We report a new practical method for the design of scaffolds exhibiting drug-like properties that are suitable for the display of peptide pharmacophores. The synthesis of various synthons of 7'-hydroxy-2',3'-dihydro-1'H,2H,5H-spiro[imidazolidine-4,4'-quinoline]-2,5-dione (1) and methods for the introduction of several mimics of amino acid side-chains are described. This method is exemplified by derivatives that show agonist activity for the somatostatin type 2 receptor.

Quinazolines as adenosine receptor antagonists: SAR and selectivity for A2B receptors.

We have recently reported the discovery of numerous new compounds that are selective inhibitors of all of the subtypes of the adenosine receptor family via a pharmacophore database searching and screening strategy. During the course of this work we made the unexpected discovery of a potent A(2B) receptor antagonist, 4-methyl-7-methoxyquinazolyl-2-(2'-amino-4'-imidazolinone) (38, CMB 6446), which showed selectivity for this receptor and functioned as an antagonist, with a binding K(i) value of 112 nM. We explored the effects of both substituent- and ring-structural variations on the receptor affinity in this series of derivatives, which were found to be mostly non-selective adenosine receptor ligands with K(i) values in the micromolar range. Since no enhancement of A(2B) receptor affinity of 38 was achieved, the previously reported pharmacophore-based searching strategy yielded the most potent and selective structurally-related hit in the database originally searched.