Metabolism-Guided Selective Androgen Receptor Antagonists: Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation for Activity against Enzalutamide-Resistant Prostate Cancer

J Med Chem. 2023 Mar 9;66(5):3372-3392. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.2c01858. Epub 2023 Feb 24.

Abstract

A major challenge for new drug discovery in the area of androgen receptor (AR) antagonists lies in predicting the druggable properties that will enable small molecules to retain their potency and stability during further studies in vitro and in vivo. Indole (compound 8) is a first-in-class AR antagonist with very high potency (IC50 = 0.085 μM) but is metabolically unstable. During the metabolic studies described herein, we synthesized new small molecules that exhibit significantly improved stability while retaining potent antagonistic activity for an AR. This structure-activity relationship (SAR) study of more than 50 compounds classified with three classes (Class I, II, and III) and discovered two compounds (32c and 35i) that are potent AR antagonists (e.g., IC50 = 0.021 μM, T1/2 = 120 min for compound 35i). The new antagonists exhibited improved in vivo pharmacokinetics (PK) with high efficacy antiandrogen activity in Hershberger and antiandrogen Enz-Res tumor xenograft models that overexpress AR (LNCaP-AR).

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Androgen Antagonists
  • Androgen Receptor Antagonists* / pharmacology
  • Androgen Receptor Antagonists* / therapeutic use
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Nitriles / pharmacology
  • Prostatic Neoplasms* / drug therapy
  • Prostatic Neoplasms* / pathology
  • Receptors, Androgen / metabolism

Substances

  • Androgen Receptor Antagonists
  • enzalutamide
  • Receptors, Androgen
  • Androgen Antagonists
  • Nitriles