Identification, Structure-Activity Relationships of Marine-Derived Indolocarbazoles, and a Dual PKCθ/δ Inhibitor with Potent Antipancreatic Cancer Efficacy

J Med Chem. 2020 Nov 12;63(21):12978-12991. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.0c01271. Epub 2020 Oct 25.

Abstract

Protein kinases C (PKCs) are a family of serine/threonine kinases involved in various cellular processes, including proliferation, differentiation, cell survival, and apoptosis. Here, we report the identification, structure-activity relationship (SAR), and 3D-QSAR studies of 69 natural indolocarbazoles, including 15 new compounds, from marine streptomyces strains. Interestingly, we found that the chair conformational isomer of 7-oxo-staurosporine (compound 15) inhibited PKCθ more potently than the corresponding boat isomer. An evaluation of kinase selectivity and antitumor efficacy revealed that 15 was a potent dual PKCθ/δ inhibitor and that it could efficiently inhibit tumor growth in pancreatic cancer (PC) by inducing cellular apoptosis and suppressing the NF-κB/p-P65 pathway. In addition, we demonstrated that overexpression of p-PKCδ and p-P65 was associated with poor survival rates in patients with PC, and p-PKCθ expression also showed significant positive correlations with p-PKCδ and p-P65 levels. Finally, the PC patient-derived xenograft model further confirmed the potential anti-PC efficacy of 15.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Apoptosis / drug effects
  • Binding Sites
  • Carbazoles / chemistry*
  • Carbazoles / metabolism
  • Carbazoles / pharmacology
  • Carbazoles / therapeutic use
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Crystallography, X-Ray
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Molecular Docking Simulation
  • NF-kappa B / metabolism
  • Pancreatic Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Pancreatic Neoplasms / pathology
  • Protein Kinase C-delta / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Protein Kinase C-delta / metabolism
  • Protein Kinase C-theta / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Protein Kinase C-theta / metabolism
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / chemistry*
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / metabolism
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / pharmacology
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / therapeutic use
  • Seawater / microbiology
  • Signal Transduction / drug effects
  • Streptomyces / chemistry
  • Streptomyces / metabolism
  • Structure-Activity Relationship
  • Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

Substances

  • Carbazoles
  • NF-kappa B
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors
  • Protein Kinase C-delta
  • Protein Kinase C-theta