Novel Colchicine-Site Binders with a Cyclohexanedione Scaffold Identified through a Ligand-Based Virtual Screening Approach
作者:María-Dolores Canela、María-Jesús Pérez-Pérez、Sam Noppen、Gonzalo Sáez-Calvo、J. Fernando Díaz、María-José Camarasa、Sandra Liekens、Eva-María Priego
DOI:10.1021/jm401939g
日期:2014.5.22
Vascular disrupting agents (VDAs) constitute an innovative anticancer therapy that targets the tumor endothelium, leading to tumor necrosis. Our approach for the identification of new VDAs has relied on a ligand 3-D shape similarity virtual screening (VS) approach using the ROCS program as the VS tool and as query colchicine and TN-16, which both bind the alpha,beta-tubulin dimer. One of the hits identified, using TN-16 as query, has been explored by the synthesis of its structural analogues, leading to 2-(1-((2-methoxyphenyl)amino)ethylidene)-5-phenylcyclohexane-1,3-dione (compound 16c) with an IC50 = 0.09 +/- 0.01 mu M in HMEC-1 and BAEC, being 100-fold more potent than the initial hit. Compound 16c caused cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phase and interacted with the colchicine-binding site in tubulin, as confirmed by a competition assay with N,N'-ethylenebis(iodoacetamide) and by fluorescence spectroscopy. Moreover, 16c destroyed an established endothelial tubular network at 1 mu M and inhibited the migration and invasion of human breast carcinoma cells at 0.4 mu M. In conclusion, our approach has led to a new chemotype of promising antiproliferative compounds with antimitotic and potential VDA properties.