Amide-sulfamide modulators as effective anti-tumor metastatic agents targeting CXCR4/CXCL12 axis

Eur J Med Chem. 2020 Jan 1:185:111823. doi: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2019.111823. Epub 2019 Oct 30.

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed malignancy and the second common cause of death in women worldwide. High mortality in breast cancer is frequently associated with metastatic progression rather than the primary tumor itself. It has been recently identified that the CXCR4/CXCL12 axis plays a pivotal role in breast cancer metastasis, especially in directing metastatic cancer cells to CXCL12-riched organs and tissues. Herein, taking the amide-sulfamide as the lead structure, the second-round structural modifications to the sulfamide structure were performed to obtain more active CXCR4 modulators against tumor metastasis. Both in vivo and in vitro experiments illustrated that compound IIIe possessed potent CXCR4 binding affinity, excellent anti-metastatic and anti-angiogenetic activity against breast cancer. More importantly, in a mouse breast cancer lung metastasis model, compound IIIe exerted a significant inhibitory effect on breast cancer metastasis. Taken together, all these positive results demonstrated that developing of CXCR4 modulators is a promising strategy to mediate breast cancer metastasis.

Keywords: Amide-sulfamide derivatives; Anti-tumor metastatic activity; CXCR4/CXCL12 axis; Structural modification.

MeSH terms

  • Amides / administration & dosage
  • Amides / chemistry
  • Amides / pharmacology*
  • Animals
  • Antineoplastic Agents / administration & dosage
  • Antineoplastic Agents / chemistry
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology*
  • Breast Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Breast Neoplasms / pathology
  • Cell Adhesion / drug effects
  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects
  • Chemokine CXCL12 / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Chemokine CXCL12 / metabolism
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Injections, Intravenous
  • Lung Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Lung Neoplasms / pathology
  • Lung Neoplasms / secondary
  • Mice
  • Mice, Nude
  • Molecular Structure
  • Neoplasms, Experimental / drug therapy*
  • Neoplasms, Experimental / pathology
  • Neoplasms, Experimental / secondary
  • Receptors, CXCR4 / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Receptors, CXCR4 / metabolism
  • Structure-Activity Relationship
  • Tumor Cells, Cultured
  • Wound Healing / drug effects

Substances

  • Amides
  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • CXCL12 protein, human
  • CXCR4 protein, human
  • Chemokine CXCL12
  • Receptors, CXCR4