Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Icaritin Derivatives as Novel Putative DEPTOR Inhibitors for Multiple Myeloma Treatment

J Med Chem. 2021 Oct 28;64(20):14942-14954. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c00087. Epub 2021 Oct 13.

Abstract

Icaritin is an active ingredient in Epimedium, which has a variety of pharmacological activities. However, the low activity of Icaritin and the unclear target greatly limit its application. Therefore, based on the structure of Icaritin, we adopted the strategy of replacing toxic groups and introducing active groups to design and synthesize a series of new analogues. The top compound C3 exhibited better antimultiple myeloma activity with an IC50 of 1.09 μM for RPMI 8226 cells, induced RPMI 8226 apoptosis, and blocked the cell cycle in the S phase. Importantly, transcriptome analysis, cellular thermal shift assay, and microscale thermophoresis assay confirmed that DEPTOR was the target of C3. Moreover, we explored its binding mode with C3. Especially, C3 displayed satisfactory inhibition of tumor growth in RPMI 8226 xenografts without obvious side effects. In summary, C3 was discovered as a novel putative inhibitor of DEPTOR for the treatment of multiple myeloma.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents / chemical synthesis
  • Antineoplastic Agents / chemistry
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology*
  • Apoptosis / drug effects
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Drug Design*
  • Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor
  • Epimedium / chemistry
  • Flavonoids / chemical synthesis
  • Flavonoids / chemistry
  • Flavonoids / pharmacology*
  • Humans
  • Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / metabolism
  • Molecular Structure
  • Multiple Myeloma / drug therapy*
  • Multiple Myeloma / metabolism
  • Structure-Activity Relationship

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Flavonoids
  • Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
  • DEPTOR protein, human
  • icaritin