Targeting epigenetic reader and eraser: Rational design, synthesis and in vitro evaluation of dimethylisoxazoles derivatives as BRD4/HDAC dual inhibitors

  • Bioorg Med Chem Lett. 2016 Jun 15;26(12):2931-2935. doi: 10.1016/j.bmcl.2016.04.034.
Zhimin Zhang  1 Shaohua Hou  1 Hongli Chen  1 Ting Ran  2 Fei Jiang  1 Yuanyuan Bian  1 Dewei Zhang  1 Yanle Zhi  1 Lu Wang  1 Li Zhang  1 Hongmei Li  1 Yanmin Zhang  2 Weifang Tang  1 Tao Lu  3 Yadong Chen  4
Affiliations
  • 1. Department of Organic Chemistry, School of Science, 639 Longmian Avenue, Nanjing 211198, China.
  • 2. Laboratory of Molecular Design and Drug Discovery, School of Science, 639 Longmian Avenue, Nanjing 211198, China.
  • 3. Laboratory of Molecular Design and Drug Discovery, School of Science, 639 Longmian Avenue, Nanjing 211198, China; State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University, 24 Tongjiaxiang, Nanjing 210009, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 4. Laboratory of Molecular Design and Drug Discovery, School of Science, 639 Longmian Avenue, Nanjing 211198, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
Abstract

The bromodomain protein module and histone deacetylase (HDAC), which recognize and remove acetylated lysine, respectively, have emerged as important epigenetic therapeutic targets in Cancer treatments. Herein we presented a novel design approach for Cancer drug development by combination of bromodomain and HDAC inhibitory activity in one molecule. The designed compounds were synthesized which showed inhibitory activity against bromodomain 4 and HDAC1. The representative dual bromodomain/HDAC inhibitors, compound 11 and 12, showed potent antiproliferative activities against human leukaemia cell line K562 and MV4-11 in cellular assays. This work may lay the foundation for developing dual bromodomain/HDAC inhibitors as potential Anticancer therapeutics.

Keywords
Antiproliferative activity; Bromodomain; Epigenetic; HDAC; Protein–protein interactions.