Design, Synthesis, and Evaluation of Novel p-(Methylthio)styryl Substituted Quindoline Derivatives as Neuroblastoma RAS (NRAS) Repressors via Specific Stabilizing the RNA G-Quadruplex

J Med Chem. 2018 Aug 9;61(15):6629-6646. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.8b00257. Epub 2018 Jul 23.

Abstract

The human proto-oncogene neuroblastoma RAS ( NRAS) contains a guanine-rich sequence in the 5'-untranslated regions (5'-UTR) of the mRNA that could form an RNA G-quadruplex structure. This structure acts as a repressor for NRAS translation and could be a potential target for anticancer drugs. Our previous studies found an effective scaffold, the quindoline scaffold, for binding and stabilizing the DNA G-quadruplex structures. Here, on the basis of the previous studies and reported RNA-specific probes, a series of novel p-(methylthio)styryl substituted quindoline (MSQ) derivatives were designed, synthesized, and evaluated as NRAS RNA G-quadruplex ligands. Panels of experiments turned out that the introduction of p-(methylthio)styryl side chain could enhance the specific binding to the NRAS RNA G-quadruplex. One of the hits, 4a-10, showed strong stabilizing activity on the G-quadruplex and subsequently repressed NRAS's translation and inhibited tumor cells proliferation. Our finding provided a novel strategy to discover novel NRAS repressors by specifically binding to the RNA G-quadruplex in the 5'-UTR of mRNA.

MeSH terms

  • Alkaloids / chemical synthesis*
  • Alkaloids / chemistry
  • Alkaloids / pharmacology*
  • Cell Cycle Checkpoints / drug effects
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Chemistry Techniques, Synthetic
  • Drug Design*
  • G-Quadruplexes / drug effects*
  • GTP Phosphohydrolases / genetics*
  • Humans
  • Indoles / chemical synthesis*
  • Indoles / chemistry
  • Indoles / pharmacology*
  • Membrane Proteins / genetics*
  • Proto-Oncogene Mas
  • Quinolines / chemical synthesis*
  • Quinolines / chemistry
  • Quinolines / pharmacology*
  • RNA / chemistry*
  • Styrene / chemistry*

Substances

  • Alkaloids
  • Indoles
  • MAS1 protein, human
  • Membrane Proteins
  • Proto-Oncogene Mas
  • Quinolines
  • quindoline
  • Styrene
  • RNA
  • GTP Phosphohydrolases
  • NRAS protein, human