Background and aims: The outcomes of current treatment for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are unsatisfactory and development of new and more efficacious therapeutic strategies are required. The Notch pathway, which is necessary for cell survival to avert apoptosis, induces the resistance of cancer cells to antitumour drugs. Notch pathway activation is controlled by the cleavage of Notch proteins/receptors mediated by A disintegrin and metalloproteinase 17 (ADAM17); therefore, ADAM17 is a reliable intervention target for anti-tumour therapy to overcome the drug resistance of cancer cells. This work aims to develop and elucidate the activation of Compound 2b, a novel-structured small-molecule inhibitor of ADAM17, which was designed and developed and its therapeutic efficacy in NSCLC was assessed via multi-assays.
Methods and results: A lead compound for a potential inhibitor of ADAM17 was explored via pharmacophore modelling, molecular docking, and biochemical screening. It was augmented by substituting two important chemical groups [R1 and R2 of the quinoxaline-2,3-diamine (its chemical skeleton)]; subsequently, serial homologs of the lead compound were used to obtain anoptimized compound (2b) with high inhibitory activity compared with leading compound against ADAM17 to inhibit the cleavage of Notch proteins and the accumulation of the Notch intracellular domain in the nuclei of NSCLC cells. The inhibitory activity of compound 2b was demonstrated by quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting. The specificity of compound 2b on ADAM17 was confirmed via point-mutation. Compound 2b enhanced the activation of antitumor drugs on NSCLC cells, in cell lines and nude mice models, by targeting the ADAM17/Notch pathway.
Conclusion: Compound 2b may be a promising strategy for NSCLC treatment.
背景和目的:目前治疗非小细胞肺癌(NSCLC)的效果并不令人满意,因此需要开发新的、更有效的治疗策略。Notch通路是细胞生存以避免凋亡所必需的,它诱导癌细胞对抗肿瘤药物产生抗药性。Notch通路的激活是由A分解蛋白和金属蛋白酶17(ADAM17)介导的Notch蛋白/受体的裂解所控制的;因此,ADAM17是抗肿瘤治疗克服癌细胞耐药性的可靠干预靶点。本研究旨在开发和阐明化合物 2b 的活化过程,化合物 2b 是一种新型结构的 ADAM17 小分子抑制剂,本研究设计和开发了化合物 2b,并通过多种检测方法评估了其在 NSCLC 中的疗效:方法:通过药效学建模、分子对接和生化筛选,探索了ADAM17潜在抑制剂的先导化合物。通过取代两个重要的化学基团[喹喔啉-2,3-二胺(其化学骨架)的 R1 和 R2],对其进行了扩增;随后,利用先导化合物的系列同源物得到了一个优化化合物(2b),与先导化合物相比,该化合物对 ADAM17 具有较高的抑制活性,可抑制 Notch 蛋白的裂解以及 Notch 细胞核内结构域在 NSCLC 细胞中的聚集。化合物 2b 的抑制活性通过定量聚合酶链反应和 Western 印迹法得到了证实。通过点突变证实了化合物 2b 对 ADAM17 的特异性。化合物 2b 通过靶向 ADAM17/Notch 通路,增强了细胞系和裸鼠模型中抗肿瘤药物对 NSCLC 细胞的激活作用:结论:化合物 2b 可能是一种治疗 NSCLC 的有前途的策略。