Design and synthesis of HDAC inhibitors to enhance the therapeutic effect of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma by improving metabolic stability and pharmacokinetic characteristics

Eur J Med Chem. 2022 Feb 5:229:114049. doi: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2021.114049. Epub 2021 Dec 18.

Abstract

Histone deacetylases (HDAC) are clinically validated and attractive epigenetic drug targets for human cancers. Several HDAC inhibitors have been approved for cancer treatment to date, however, clinical applications have been limited due to the poor pharmacokinetics, bioavailability, selectivity of the HDAC inhibitors and most of them need to be combined with other drugs to achieve better results. Here, we describe our efforts toward the discovery of a novel series of lactam-based derivatives as selective HDAC inhibitors. Intensive structural modifications lead to the identification of compound 24g as the most active Class I HDAC Inhibitor, along with satisfactory metabolic stability in vitro (t1/2, human = 797 min) and the desirable oral bioavailability (F = 92%). More importantly, compound 24g showed good antitumor efficacy in a TMD-8 xenograft model (TGI = 77%) without obvious toxicity. These results indicated that Class I HDAC Inhibitor could be potentially used to treat certain diffuse large B-cell lymphoma therapeutics.

Keywords: Bioavailability; Diffuse large B-Cell lymphoma; HDAC; Inhibitors; Metabolic stability.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Binding Sites
  • Cell Cycle Checkpoints / drug effects
  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects
  • Dogs
  • Drug Design*
  • Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor
  • Half-Life
  • Histone Deacetylase 1 / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Histone Deacetylase 1 / metabolism
  • Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors / chemistry*
  • Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors / metabolism
  • Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors / pharmacokinetics
  • Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors / therapeutic use
  • Humans
  • Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse / drug therapy
  • Mice
  • Microsomes, Liver / metabolism
  • Molecular Docking Simulation
  • Protein Isoforms / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Protein Isoforms / metabolism
  • Rats
  • Structure-Activity Relationship

Substances

  • Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors
  • Protein Isoforms
  • Histone Deacetylase 1