In order to discover novel hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) inhibitors for the cancer metastasis treatment, 68 new aryl carboxamide compounds were synthesized and evaluated for their inhibitory effect by dual luciferase-reporter assay. Based on five rounds of investigation on structure-activity relationships step by step, compound 30m was discovered as the most active inhibitor (IC50 = 0.32 mu M) with no obvious cytotoxicity (CC50 > 50 mu M). It effectively attenuated hypoxia-induced HIF-1 alpha protein accumulation and reduced transcription of vascular epidermal growth factor in a dose-dependent manner, which was further demonstrated by its inhibitory potency on capillary-like tube formation, angiogenesis of zebrafish as well as cellular migration and invasion. Importantly, compound 30m exhibited antimetastatic potency in breast cancer lung metastasis in the mice model, indicating its promising therapeutic potential for prevention and treatment of tumor metastasis. These results definitely merit attention for further rational design of more efficient HIF-1 inhibitors in the future.
Design, synthesis, and structure–activity relationships of novel 6,7-disubstituted-4-phenoxyquinoline derivatives as potential antitumor agents
Two series of quinoline derivatives bearing the pyridine/pyrimidine scaffold were synthesized, and evaluated for their c-Met kinase inhibitory activity and antiproliferative activity against 5 cancer cell lines (HT-29, H460, MKN-45, A549, and U87MG) were evaluated in vitro. Most compounds showed moderate to excellent potency, and compared to foretinib, the most promising analog 18b (c-Met half-maximal inhibitory concentration [IC50] = 1.39 nM) showed a 7.3-fold increase in activity against HT-29 cell line in vitro. Structure activity relationship studies indicated that regulation of the electron density on the pyridine/pyrimidine ring to a proper degree was a key factor in improving the antitumor activity. (C) 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.