Discovering High Potent Hsp90 Inhibitors as Antinasopharyngeal Carcinoma Agents through Fragment Assembling Approach

J Med Chem. 2021 Feb 25;64(4):2010-2023. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.0c01521. Epub 2021 Feb 5.

Abstract

Hsp90 is a new promising target for cancer treatment. Many inhibitors have been discovered as therapeutic agents, and some have passed Phase I and II. However, no one is approved by FDA yet. Novel and druggable Hsp90 inhibitors are still demanding. Here, we report a new way to discover high potent Hsp90 inhibitors as antinasopharyngeal carcinoma agents through assembling fragments. With chemotyping analysis, we extract seven chemotypes from 3482 known Hsp90 inhibitors, screen 500 fragments that are compatible with the chemotypes, and confirm 15 anti-Hsp90 fragments. Click chemistry is employed to construct 172 molecules and synthesize 21 compounds among them. The best inhibitor 3d was further optimized and resulted in more potent 4f (IC50 = 0.16 μM). In vitro and in vivo experiments confirmed that 4f is a promising agent against nasopharyngeal carcinoma. This study may provide a strategy in discovering new ligands against targets without well-understood structures.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antineoplastic Agents / chemical synthesis
  • Antineoplastic Agents / metabolism
  • Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Databases, Chemical
  • HSP90 Heat-Shock Proteins / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • HSP90 Heat-Shock Proteins / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Nude
  • Molecular Dynamics Simulation
  • Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma / drug therapy*
  • Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Protein Binding
  • Small Molecule Libraries / chemical synthesis
  • Small Molecule Libraries / metabolism
  • Small Molecule Libraries / therapeutic use
  • Triazoles / chemical synthesis
  • Triazoles / metabolism
  • Triazoles / therapeutic use*
  • Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • HSP90 Heat-Shock Proteins
  • Small Molecule Libraries
  • Triazoles