The CCAAT enhancer-binding protein α (C/EBPα) plays an important role in myeloid cell differentiation and in the enhancement of C/EBPα expression/activity, which can lead to granulocytic differentiation in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells. We found that styryl quinazolinones induce upregulation of C/EBPα expression, and thereby induce myeloid differentiation in human myeloid leukemia cell lines. We screened a series of active styryl quinazolinones and evaluated the structure–activity relationship (SAR) of these small molecules in inducing C/EBPα expression—thereby prompting the leukemic cells to differentiate. We observed that compound 78 causes differentiation at 3 μM concentration, while 1 induces differentiation at 10 μM concentration. We also observed an increase in the expression of neutrophil differentiation marker CD11b upon treatment with 78. Both the C/EBPα and C/EBPε levels were found to be upregulated by treatment with 78. These SAR findings are inspiration to develop further modified styryl quinazolinones, in the path of this novel differentiation therapy, which can contribute to the care of patients with AML.
CCAAT增强子结合蛋白α(C/EBPα)在髓系细胞分化和C/EBPα表达/活性增强中扮演重要角色,可导致急性髓细胞白血病(AML)细胞的粒细胞分化。我们发现,苯乙烯基喹唑啉酮诱导C/EBPα表达上调,从而诱导人髓系白血病细胞系的髓样分化。我们筛选了一系列活性苯乙烯基喹唑啉酮,并评估这些小分子诱导C/EBPα表达的结构-活性关系(SAR),从而促使白血病细胞分化。我们观察到,化合物78在3μM浓度下引起分化,而1在10μM浓度下引起分化。我们还观察到,处理78后中性粒细胞分化标记物CD11b的表达增加。处理78后,C/EBPα和C/EBPε的水平也被发现上调。这些SAR结果启示我们进一步改进苯乙烯基喹唑啉酮,以开发这种新型分化疗法,为AML患者的治疗做出贡献。