Cancer is a group of diseases that have the capability of indefinite cell proliferation. Enzyme human DNA topoisomerase IIα is a well-established target in cancer treatment because it catalyses the induction of topological changes of the DNA molecule and is essential for successful cell division. Small organic compounds can inhibit this enzyme, consequently stopping the cell proliferation of cancer cells. Inhibitors of human DNA topoisomerase IIα are divided into topo II poisons and catalytic inhibitors. Due to serious adverse effects of topo II poisons widely used in chemotherapy, especially cardiotoxicity and induction of secondary malignancies, there is a growing tendency to develop new catalytic inhibitors.
In this Master’s thesis, based on the previously known Structure-Activity Relationship of the 3,5-disubstituted 1,2,4-oxadiazoles, a class of catalytic inhibitors that bind to the enzyme’s ATP binding site, we synthesized 11 new derivatives. Additionally, we obtained 6 commercially available derivatives which are structurally similar to our synthesized compounds. All compounds were evaluated using an in vitro topo IIα DNA relaxation assay to determine whether they possess inhibitory activity. None of the synthesized derivatives showed improved topo IIα inhibitory activity compered to compounds which were synthesized in previous research. Among the commercially available derivatives compound 44 displayed promising topo IIα inhibition. This result indicates that additional substitution of the phenyl ring with bonded acetamido group might be beneficial for increased inhibitory activity of the 3,5-disubstituted 1,2,4-oxadiazoles. We also confirmed that compound 44 is a catalytic inhibitor and it can mitigate DNA damage caused by topoisomerase poison etoposide, thus acting via a different mechanism. Molecular docking indicated that a formation of new hydrophobic interactions between the methyl group and residues of the ATP binding site could be plausible reason for the observed better inhibitory activity.
Based on the obtained results, we extended the knowledge regarding the SAR of the 3,5-disubstituted 1,2,4-oxadiazoles as topo IIα catalytic inhibitors and gained valuable information for further development of this group of potential anticancer agents towards compounds that would possess comparable efficacy as clinically used topoisomerase II poisons and at the same time display a lower incidence of adverse reactions.
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