Cyclization strategy leads to highly potent Bromodomain and extra-terminal (BET) Bromodomain inhibitors for the treatment of acute liver injury

Chao Chen; Tian Lu; Panyu Chen; Zizhou Li; Yaxi Yang; Shijie Fan; Yuanyuan Zhang; Kaixian Chen; Wei Fu; Yugang Wang; Cheng Luo; Bing Zhou

doi:10.1016/j.ejmech.2022.115023

Cyclization strategy leads to highly potent Bromodomain and extra-terminal (BET) Bromodomain inhibitors for the treatment of acute liver injury

Eur J Med Chem. 2023 Feb 5:247:115023. doi: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2022.115023. Epub 2022 Dec 16.

Authors

Chao Chen¹, Tian Lu², Panyu Chen³, Zizhou Li⁴, Yaxi Yang⁵, Shijie Fan⁶, Yuanyuan Zhang⁷, Kaixian Chen⁶, Wei Fu⁸, Yugang Wang⁹, Cheng Luo¹⁰, Bing Zhou¹¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, 826 Zhangheng Road, Pudong New District, Shanghai, 201203, China; Department of Medicinal Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China.
² Guizhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guiyang, Guizhou, 550025, China; Drug Discovery and Design Center, The Center for Chemical Biology, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China.
³ Drug Discovery and Design Center, The Center for Chemical Biology, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China; Department of Gastroenterology, Tongren Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 1111 XianXia Road, Shanghai, 200336, China.
⁴ Department of Medicinal Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China.
⁵ Department of Medicinal Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China; School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, 310024, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
⁶ Drug Discovery and Design Center, The Center for Chemical Biology, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
⁷ Drug Discovery and Design Center, The Center for Chemical Biology, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China.
⁸ Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, 826 Zhangheng Road, Pudong New District, Shanghai, 201203, China. Electronic address: wfu@fudan.edu.cn.
⁹ Department of Gastroenterology, Tongren Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 1111 XianXia Road, Shanghai, 200336, China. Electronic address: wyg0061@shtrhospital.com.
¹⁰ Drug Discovery and Design Center, The Center for Chemical Biology, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China; School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, 310024, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
¹¹ Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, 826 Zhangheng Road, Pudong New District, Shanghai, 201203, China; Department of Medicinal Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China; School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, 310024, China; Shandong Laboratory of Yantai Drug Discovery, Bohai Rim Advanced Research Institute for Drug Discovery, Yantai, Shandong, 264117, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China. Electronic address: zhoubing@simm.ac.cn.

PMID: 36566713
DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2022.115023

Abstract

Acute liver injury (ALI) is characteristic of abrupt hepatic dysfunction and inflammatory response, and currently the main treatment for ALI is merely supportive rather than curative. Therefore, the development of novel and effective therapeutic strategies for ALI therapy is highly desirable. The emerging biological understanding of the role of BET Bromodomains has opened up an exciting opportunity to develop potent BET Bromodomain inhibitors as an effective therapeutic strategy for the treatment of acute liver injury. Herein, we synthesized a series of potent BET Bromodomain inhibitors with a tetracyclic scaffold, exemplified by compound 28 which showed good in vitro anti-inflammatory activity and good therapeutic effects in the LPS-induced acute liver injury model without obvious cytotoxicity, suggesting that compound 28 is a highly promising candidate worthy for further development.

Keywords: Acute liver injury; Anti-inflammatory activity; BET Bromodomains; Inhibitors; Tetracyclic compounds.

MeSH terms

Anti-Inflammatory Agents*
Cyclization
Liver / metabolism
Protein Domains
Transcription Factors* / metabolism

Substances

Transcription Factors
Anti-Inflammatory Agents