Synthesis and evaluation of spiroisoxazoline oxindoles as anticancer agents

Abstract

Restoring p53 levels through disruption of p53-MDM2 interaction has been proved to be a valuable approach in fighting cancer. We herein report the synthesis and evaluation of eighteen spiroisoxazoline oxindoles derivatives as p53-MDM2 interaction inhibitors. Seven compounds showed an antiproliferative profile superior to the p53-MDM2 interaction inhibitor nutlin-3, and induced cell death by apoptosis. Moreover, proof-of-concept was demonstrated by inhibition of the interaction between p53 and MDM2 in a live-cell bimolecular fluorescence complementation assay.

Keywords: Cancer; MDM2; Protein–protein interactions; Spiro compounds; p53.