Heat shock proteins (Hsp) are molecular chaperones involved in the folding of newly synthesized proteins into their native conformation. Hsp protect cellular proteins from damage and aggregation when the organism is under stress. Protection also occurs in cancer cells, where Hsp90 plays a key role by stabilizing mutant proteins that accumulate in the cell and lead to cancer. As a result, Hsp90 has become a target for new chemotherapeutic agents. Initially, researchers synthesized compounds with inhibitory activity against the Hsp90 N-terminal domain (NTD), which serves as an ATP-binding site, but all triggered a heat shock response (HSR), which reduced their anticancer activity. Further research led to the discovery of compounds that inhibit the allosteric site at the Hsp90 C-terminal domain (CTD) without inducing HSR.
Our experimental work was based on the synthesis of fourteen inhibitors of the Hsp90 CTD. We used a 4,5,6,7-tetrahydrobenzothiazole ring as a scaffold to which substituents were attached by forming an amide bond at positions 2 and 6. Library A contains compounds with a 3,4-dichlorobenzene ring at position 6, while various substituents were introduced at position 2. In library B, modifications were made at position 6 of the scaffold, while a β-alanine substituent was introduced at position 2. The aim of the study was to establish the structure-activity relationship (SAR) of Hsp90 CTD inhibitors in order to synthesize more potent anti-tumor compounds in the future.
Biological assays were performed on the human breast cancer cell line MCF-7, and the results were presented as IC50 values for antiproliferative activity. The most potent inhibition from library A was exhibited by trans-isomer 5f (1-(1S,3S)–3-aminocyclobutiyl)ethan-1-one) with IC50 = 0.37 ± 0.03 µM, highlighting the importance of the orientation of the amino group in the binding site. Due to the different orientation of its amino group, cis-isomer 5e (1-(1R,3S)–3-aminocyclobutyl)ethan-1-one) forms weaker ionic bonds with glutamate (Glu489A) in the CTD, reducing the activity of the compound. Compound 8d from library B showed the strongest inhibitory activity with IC50 = 1.07 ± 0.15 µM and was twice as active as the reference compound TMM-7b. Compound 8d has a naphthalene ring at position 6 that fits better into the hydrophobic pocket of Hsp90 CTD than the 3,4-dichlorobenzene ring of compound TMM-7b. The introduction of other aromatic rings significantly decreased the activity of the compounds. We have discovered new information about the SAR of 4,5,6,7-tetrahydrobenzothiazole inhibitors of Hsp90, which could be used to design even better inhibitors of Hsp90 CTD.
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