2. Academic Validation
  3. Discovery of Orally Bioavailable, Quinoline-Based Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 1A1 (ALDH1A1) Inhibitors with Potent Cellular Activity

Discovery of Orally Bioavailable, Quinoline-Based Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 1A1 (ALDH1A1) Inhibitors with Potent Cellular Activity

  • J Med Chem. 2018 Jun 14;61(11):4883-4903. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.8b00270.
Shyh-Ming Yang 1,  Natalia J Martinez 1,  Adam Yasgar 1,  Carina Danchik 1,  Catrine Johansson 2,  Yuhong Wang 1,  Bolormaa Baljinnyam 1,  Amy Q Wang 1,  Xin Xu 1,  Pranav Shah 1,  Dorian Cheff 1,  Xinran S Wang 1,  Jacob Roth 1,  Madhu Lal-Nag 1,  James E Dunford 2,  Udo Oppermann 2,  Vasilis Vasiliou 3,  Anton Simeonov 1,  Ajit Jadhav 1,  David J Maloney 1
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health , 9800 Medical Center Drive , Rockville , Maryland 20850 , United States.
  • 2 Centre for Translational Myeloma Research, Botnar Research Centre, Oxford NIHR BRU , University of Oxford , Oxford OX3 7LD , U.K.
  • 3 Department of Environmental Health Sciences , Yale School of Public Health , 60 College Street , New Haven , Connecticut 06510 , United States.
PMID: 29767973 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.8b00270
Abstract

Aldehyde dehydrogenases (ALDHs) are responsible for the metabolism of aldehydes (exogenous and endogenous) and possess vital physiological and toxicological functions in areas such as CNS, inflammation, metabolic disorders, and cancers. Overexpression of certain ALDHs (e.g., ALDH1A1) is an important biomarker in cancers and Cancer Stem Cells (CSCs) indicating the potential need for the identification and development of small molecule ALDH inhibitors. Herein, a newly designed series of quinoline-based analogs of ALDH1A1 inhibitors is described. Extensive medicinal chemistry optimization and biological characterization led to the identification of analogs with significantly improved enzymatic and cellular ALDH inhibition. Selected analogs, e.g., 86 (NCT-505) and 91 (NCT-506), demonstrated target engagement in a cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA), inhibited the formation of 3D spheroid cultures of OV-90 Cancer cells, and potentiated the cytotoxicity of paclitaxel in SKOV-3-TR, a paclitaxel resistant ovarian Cancer cell line. Lead compounds also exhibit high specificity over other ALDH isozymes and unrelated dehydrogenases. The in vitro ADME profiles and pharmacokinetic evaluation of selected analogs are also highlighted.

Figures
Products