Identification of potent catalytic inhibitors of human DNA topoisomerase II by structure-based virtual screening.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Dong G
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6071756 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:DNA topoisomerases are enzymes responsible for the relaxation of DNA torsional strain, as well as for the untangling of DNA duplexes after replication, and are important cancer drug targets. One class of topoisomerase inhibitors, "poisons", binds to the transient enzyme-DNA complex which occurs during the mechanism of action, and inhibits the religation of DNA. This ultimately leads to the accumulation of DNA double strand breaks and cell death. Different types of topoisomerases occur in human cells and several poisons of topoisomerase I and II are widely used clinically. However, their use is compromised by a variety of side effects. Recent studies confirm that the inhibition of the α-isoform of topoisomerase II is responsible for the cytotoxic effect, whereas the inhibition of the β-isoform leads to development of adverse drug reactions. Thus, the discovery of agents selective for topoisomerase IIα is an important strategy for the development of topoisomerase II poisons with improved clinical profiles. Here, we present a computer-aided drug design study leading to the identification of structurally novel topoisomerase IIα poisons. The study combines ligand- and structure-based drug design methods including pharmacophore models, homology modelling, docking, and virtual screening of the National Cancer Institute compound database. From the 8 compounds identified from the computational work, 6 were tested for their capacity to poison topoisomerase II in vitro: 4 showed selective inhibitory activity for the α- over the β-isoform and 3 of these exhibited cytotoxic activity. Thus, our study confirms the applicability of computer-aided methods for the discovery of novel topoisomerase II poisons, and presents compounds which could be investigated further as selective topoisomerase IIα inhibitors.
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Project description:Human type II topoisomerases, molecular motors that alter the DNA topology, are a major target of modern chemotherapy. Groups of catalytic inhibitors represent a new approach to overcome the known limitations of topoisomerase II poisons such as cardiotoxicity and induction of secondary tumors. Here, we present a class of substituted 4,5'-bithiazoles as catalytic inhibitors targeting the human DNA topoisomerase II?. Based on a structural comparison of the ATPase domains of human and bacterial type II topoisomerase, a focused chemical library of 4,5'-bithiazoles was assembled and screened to identify compounds that better fit the topology of the human topo II? adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) binding site. Selected compounds showed inhibition of human topo II? comparable to that of the etoposide topo II drug, revealing a new class of inhibitors targeting this molecular motor. Further investigations showed that compounds act as catalytic inhibitors via competitive ATP inhibition. We also confirmed binding to the truncated ATPase domain of topo II? and modeled the inhibitor molecular recognition with molecular simulations and dynophore models. The compounds also displayed promising cytotoxicity against HepG2 and MCF-7 cell lines comparable to that of etoposide. In a more detailed study with the HepG2 cell line, there was no induction of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), and the compounds were able to reduce cell proliferation and stop the cell cycle mainly in the G1 phase. This confirms the mechanism of action of these compounds, which differs from topo II poisons also at the cellular level. Substituted 4,5'-bithiazoles appear to be a promising class for further development toward efficient and potentially safer cancer therapies exploiting the alternative topo II inhibition paradigm.
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Project description:Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) play important roles in human neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. In this study, machine learning methods were applied to develop quantitative structure-activity relationship models for the prediction of novel AChE and BChE inhibitors based on data from quantitative high-throughput screening assays. The models were used to virtually screen an in-house collection of ∼360K compounds. The optimal models achieved good performance with area under the receiver operating characteristic curve values ranging from 0.83 ± 0.03 to 0.87 ± 0.01 for the prediction of AChE/BChE inhibition activity and selectivity. Experimental validation showed that the best-performing models increased the assay hit rate by several folds. We identified 88 novel AChE and 126 novel BChE inhibitors, 25% (AChE) and 53% (BChE) of which showed potent inhibitory effects (IC50 < 5 μM). In addition, structure-activity relationship analysis of the BChE inhibitors revealed scaffolds for chemistry design and optimization. In conclusion, machine learning models were shown to efficiently identify potent and selective inhibitors against AChE and BChE and novel structural series for further design and development of potential therapeutics against neurodegenerative disorders.
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Project description:Human testis-specific and bromodomain-containing protein (hBRDT) is essential for chromatin remodeling during spermatogenesis and is therefore an attractive target for the discovery of male contraceptive drugs. In this study, pharmacophore modeling was carried out based on the crystal structure of hBRDT in complex with the inhibitor, JQ1. The established pharmacophore model was used as a 3D search query to identify potent hBRDT inhibitors from an in-house chemical database. A molecular docking analysis was carried out to filter the obtained hit compounds. A total of 125 compounds was finally selected based on the ranking order and visual examination. These compounds were further evaluated by a protein-based in vitro assay. Four compounds with new chemical scaffolds were identified to be hBRDT inhibitors. The most active of these compounds, T480, had a half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 9.02 µM. The detailed analysis of the binding mode of compound T480 provides important information for the further development of novel BRDT inhibitors.
| S-EPMC4899012 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Although the new generation of androgen receptor (AR) antagonists like enzalutamide (ENZ) prolong survival of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), AR-driven tumors eventually recur indicating that additional therapies are required to fully block AR function. Since DNA topoisomerase II (Topo II) was demonstrated to be essential for AR to initiate gene transcription, this study tested whether catalytic inhibitors of Topo II can block AR signaling and suppress ENZ-resistant CRPC growth. Using multiple prostate cancer cell lines, we showed that catalytic Topo II inhibitors, ICRF187 and ICRF193 inhibited transcription activities of the wild-type AR, mutant ARs (F876L and W741C) and the AR-V7 splice variant. ICRF187 and ICRF193 decreased AR recruitment to target promoters and reduced AR nuclear localization. Both ICRF187 and ICRF193 also inhibited cell proliferation and delayed cell cycling at the G2/M phase. ICRF187 inhibited tumor growth of castration-resistant LNCaP and 22RV1 xenografts as well as ENZ-resistant MR49F xenografts. We conclude that catalytic Topo II inhibitors can block AR signaling and inhibit tumor growth of CRPC xenografts, identifying a potential co-targeting approach using these inhibitors in combination with AR pathway inhibitors in CRPC.
| S-EPMC4653019 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Currently, DNA topoisomerase I (Topo I) inhibitors constitute a family of antitumor agents with demonstrated clinical effects on human malignancies. However, the clinical uses of these agents have been greatly limited due to their severe toxic effects. Therefore, it is urgent to find and develop novel low toxic Topo I inhibitors. In recent years, during our ongoing research on natural antitumor products, a collection of low cytotoxic or non-cytotoxic compounds with various structures were identified from marine invertebrates, plants, and their symbiotic microorganisms. In the present study, new Topo I inhibitors were discovered from low cytotoxic and non-cytotoxic natural products by virtual screening with docking simulations in combination with bioassay test. In total, eight potent Topo I inhibitors were found from 138 low cytotoxic or non-cytotoxic compounds from coral-derived fungi and plants. All of these Topo I inhibitors demonstrated activities against Topo I-mediated relaxation of supercoiled DNA at the concentrations of 5-100 µM. Notably, the flavonoids showed higher Topo I inhibitory activities than other compounds. These newly discovered Topo I inhibitors exhibited structurally diverse and could be considered as a good starting point for the development of new antitumor lead compounds.
| S-EPMC5532659 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Poison inhibitors of DNA topoisomerase II (TOP2) are clinically used drugs that cause cancer cell death by inducing DNA damage, which mechanism of action is also associated with serious side effects such as secondary malignancy and cardiotoxicity. In contrast, TOP2 catalytic inhibitors induce limited DNA damage, have low cytotoxicity, and are effective in suppressing cancer cell proliferation. They have been sought after to be prospective anticancer therapies. Herein the discovery of new TOP2 catalytic inhibitors is described. A new druggable pocket of TOP2 protein at its DNA binding domain was used as a docking site to virtually screen ~6 million molecules from the ZINC15 library. The lead compound, T60, was characterized to be a catalytic TOP2 inhibitor that binds TOP2 protein and disrupts TOP2 from interacting with DNA, resulting in no DNA cleavage. It has low cytotoxicity, but strongly inhibits cancer cell proliferation and xenograft growth. T60 also inhibits androgen receptor activity and prostate cancer cell growth. These results indicate that T60 is a promising candidate compound that can be further developed into new anticancer drugs.
| S-EPMC7883873 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Cadmium (Cd(2+)) is a highly toxic and carcinogenic metal that is an environmental and occupational hazard. DNA topoisomerase II is an essential nuclear enzyme and its inhibition can result in the formation of genotoxic and recombinogenic DNA double strand breaks. In this study we showed that cadmium chloride strongly inhibited the DNA decatenation activity of human topoisomerase II? in the low micromolar concentration range and that its inhibitory effects were reduced by glutathione. Because the activity of topoisomerase II is strongly inhibited by thiol-reactive compounds this result suggested that cadmium may be binding to critical topoisomerase II cysteine thiols. Cadmium, however, did not stabilize DNA-topoisomerase II covalent complexes, as measured by the lack of formation of DNA double strand breaks. Hence, it is not likely to be a topoisomerase II poison. Consistent with the idea that cadmium cytotoxicity may be modulated by glutathione levels, buthionine sulfoximine pretreatment to decrease glutathione levels resulted in a greatly increased cadmium-induced cytotoxicity in K562 cells. The results of this study suggest that cadmium may exert some of its cell growth inhibitory, and possibly its toxicity and carcinogenicity, by inhibiting topoisomerase II? through reaction with critical cysteine thiols.
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Project description:Background7,8-Diaminopelargonic acid synthase (BioA), an enzyme of biotin biosynthesis pathway, is a well-known promising target for anti-tubercular drug development.MethodsIn this study, structure-based virtual screening was employed against the active site of BioA to identify new chemical entities for BioA inhibition and top ranking compounds were evaluated for their ability to inhibit BioA enzymatic activity.ResultsSeven compounds inhibited BioA enzymatic activity by greater than 60% at 100 ?g/mL with most potent compounds being A36, A35 and A65, displaying IC50 values of 10.48 ?g/mL (28.94 ?M), 33.36 ?g/mL (88.16 ?M) and 39.17 ?g/mL (114.42 ?M), respectively. Compounds A65 and A35 inhibited Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) growth with MIC90 of 20 ?g/mL and 80 ?g/mL, respectively, whereas compound A36 exhibited relatively weak inhibition of M. tuberculosis growth (83% inhibition at 200 ?g/mL). Compound A65 emerged as the most potent compound identified in our study that inhibited BioA enzymatic activity and growth of the pathogen and possessed drug-like properties.ConclusionOur study has identified a few hit molecules against M. tuberculosis BioA that can act as potential candidates for further development of potent anti-tubercular therapeutic agents.
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Project description:Proteolytic cleavage of amyloid precursor protein by β-secretase (BACE1) is a key step in generating the N-terminal of β-amyloid (Aβ), which further forms into amyloid plaques that are considered as the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. Inhibitors of BACE1 can reduce the levels of Aβ and thus have a therapeutic potential for treating the disease. We report here the identification of a series of small molecules bearing an indole acylguanidine core structure as potent BACE1 inhibitors. The initial weak fragment was discovered by virtual screening, and followed with a hit-to-lead optimization. With the aid of co-crystal structures of two discovered inhibitors (compounds 19 and 25) with BACE1, we explored the SAR around the indole and aryl groups, and obtained several BACE1 inhibitors about 1,000-fold more potent than the initial fragment hit. Accompanying the lead optimization, a previously under-explored sub-site opposite the flap loop was redefined as a potential binding site for later BACE1 inhibitor design.
| S-EPMC6270065 | biostudies-literature