Development of a metabolically stable topoisomerase I poison as anticancer agent

Eur J Med Chem. 2020 Sep 15:202:112551. doi: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2020.112551. Epub 2020 Jul 2.

Abstract

We have recently reported a new chemotype of a potent topoisomerase I poison with compound 1 as a potential anticancer chemotherapeutic agent. During further optimization, it has been observed that compound 1 suffers from high intrinsic clearance in human liver microsomes. To overcome the metabolic instability of compound 1, we report design and synthesis of metabolically stable Top1 poison 3. Newly identified Top1 poison 3 exhibits t1/2 of 69.1 min in human liver microsomes in comparison to compound 1 with t1/2 of 9.9 min. Molecular dynamic study of the newly optimized Top1 poison 3 was performed to get the insight into the stability of the binding pose in the active site. Compound 3 was able to trap DNA-Top1 cleavage complex and found to be less cytotoxic in non-cancerous cell line as compared to compound 1.

Keywords: Camptothecin; In vitro pharmacokinetics; Metabolic stability; Molecular dynamics; Poison; Topoisomerase 1.

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents / chemical synthesis
  • Antineoplastic Agents / chemistry
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology*
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects
  • DNA Topoisomerases, Type I / metabolism*
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Drug Development*
  • Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor
  • Humans
  • Microsomes, Liver / chemistry
  • Microsomes, Liver / metabolism
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molecular Structure
  • Recombinant Proteins / metabolism
  • Structure-Activity Relationship

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • DNA Topoisomerases, Type I
  • TOP1 protein, human