2. Academic Validation
  3. Discovery of novel carboxylesterase 2 inhibitors for the treatment of delayed diarrhea and ulcerative colitis

Discovery of novel carboxylesterase 2 inhibitors for the treatment of delayed diarrhea and ulcerative colitis

  • Biochem Pharmacol. 2023 Sep;215:115742. doi: 10.1016/j.bcp.2023.115742.
Zhijun Cao 1,  Yuxia Liu 2,  Siliang Chen 2,  Wenxin Wang 2,  Zhongcheng Yang 2,  Ya Chen 2,  Shixuan Jiao 3,  Wanqiu Huang 4,  Lianru Chen 2,  Lidan Sun 5,  Zheng Li 6,  Luyong Zhang 7
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 School of Pharmacy, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China; Key Specialty of Clinical Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China; Center for Drug Research and Development, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China; Key Laboratory of New Drug Discovery and Evaluation of the Guangdong Provincial Education Department, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China.
  • 2 School of Pharmacy, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China.
  • 3 School of Pharmacy, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China; Key Specialty of Clinical Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China; Key Laboratory of New Drug Discovery and Evaluation of the Guangdong Provincial Education Department, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China.
  • 4 School of Pharmacy, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China; Key Specialty of Clinical Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China; Key Laboratory of New Drug Discovery and Evaluation of the Guangdong Provincial Education Department, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China; Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Construction and Application of New Drug Screening Model Systems, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China.
  • 5 Department of Pharmaceutics, Jiaxing Key Laboratory for Photonanomedicine and Experimental Therapeutics, College of Medicine, Jiaxing University, Jiaxing, Zhejiang, PR China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 6 School of Pharmacy, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China; Key Specialty of Clinical Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China; Key Laboratory of New Drug Discovery and Evaluation of the Guangdong Provincial Education Department, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China; Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Construction and Application of New Drug Screening Model Systems, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China; Guangdong Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Bioactive Substances, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Design and Evaluation, Guangzhou 510006, PR China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 7 School of Pharmacy, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China; Key Specialty of Clinical Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China; Center for Drug Research and Development, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China; Key Laboratory of New Drug Discovery and Evaluation of the Guangdong Provincial Education Department, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China; Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Construction and Application of New Drug Screening Model Systems, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China; Guangdong Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Bioactive Substances, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China. Electronic address: [email protected].
PMID: 37567318 DOI: 10.1016/j.bcp.2023.115742
Abstract

Human carboxylesterase 2 (hCES2) is an Enzyme that metabolizes irinotecan to SN-38, a toxic metabolite considered a significant source of side effects (lethal delayed diarrhea). The hCES2 inhibitors could block the hydrolysis of irinotecan in the intestine and thus reduce the exposure of intestinal SN-38, which may alleviate irinotecan-associated diarrhea. However, existing hCES2 inhibitors (except loperamide) are not used in clinical applications due to lack of validity or acceptable safety. Therefore, developing more effective and safer drugs for treating delayed diarrhea is urgently needed. This study identified a lead compound 1 with a novel scaffold by high-throughput screening in our in-house library. After a comprehensive structure-activity relationship study, the optimal compound 24 was discovered as an efficient and highly selective hCES2 inhibitor (hCES2: IC50 = 6.72 μM; hCES1: IC50 > 100 μM). Further Enzyme kinetics study indicated that compound 24 is a reversible inhibitor of hCES2 with competitive inhibition mode (Ki = 6.28 μM). The cell experiments showed that compound 24 could reduce the level of hCES2 in living cells (IC50 = 6.54 μM). The modeling study suggested that compound 24 fitted very well with the binding pocket of hCES2 by forming multiple interactions. Notably, compound 24 can effectively treat irinotecan-induced delayed diarrhea and DSS-induced ulcerative colitis, and its safety has also been verified in subtoxic studies. Based on the overall pharmacological and preliminary safety profiles, compound 24 is worthy of further evaluation as a novel agent for irinotecan-induced delayed diarrhea.

Keywords

Delayed diarrhea; Human carboxylesterase 2; Irinotecan; Toxicology; Ulcerative colitis.

Figures
Products
  • Cat. No.
    Product Name
    Description
    Target
    Research Area
  • HY-155181
    98.18%, hCES2 Inhibitor