scholarly journals Design, Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Novel Chalcone Analogs as Potential Therapeutic Agents for Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer

Author(s):  
Ola Hussein ◽  
Feras Alali ◽  
Ala-Eddin Al Moustafa ◽  
Ashraf Khalil

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most frequently diagnosed malignancy, as well as a leading cause of cancer-related mortality in men globally. Despite the initial response to hormonal targeted therapy, the majority of patients ultimately progress to a lethal form of the disease, termed as castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), which currently lacks curative therapeutic options and is associated with poor prognosis. Therefore, the development of novel treatment modalities for PCa is urgently needed. Chalcones, also known as 1,3-diphenyl-2-propen-1-ones, are among the highly attractive scaffolds being investigated for their antitumor activities. Three series of 18 cyclic (tetralone-based) and two acyclic chalcone analogs, in which ring B was either substituted with nitrogen mustard or replaced by pyrrole or pyridine heterocyclic rings, were designed, synthesized and evaluated as potential therapies for CRPC. Compounds were synthesized by Claisen-Schmidt condensation reaction, purified using columnchromatography or recrystallization and characterized by 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and LC-MS. The compounds' in-vitro cytotoxicity was evaluated against three prostate cancer cell lines (PC3, DU145, and LNCaP). Among the tested compounds, OH14, OH19 and OH22 showed potent antiproliferative activities at low micromolar levels with IC50 values ranging between 4.4 and 10 µM against PC3 and DU145 cell lines. Detailed biological studies of the lead molecule OH19 revealed that it significantly induces apoptosis through upregulation of Bax and downregulation of BCL-2. In addition, OH19 potently inhibits colony formation and reduces cell migration of androgen-independent PCa cell lines (PC3 and DU145). The molecular pathway analysis show that the anticancer activity of OH19 is associated with attenuation in the phosphorylation of Akt and ERK. Furthermore, OH19 inhibits blood vessel formation in the chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) model as compared to control. These results indicate that OH19 could serve as a potential promising lead molecule for the treatment of CRPC and thus, further in-vitro and invivo studies are warranted.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ola Hussein ◽  
Feras Alali ◽  
Ala‐Eddin Al Mustafa ◽  
Ashraf Khalil

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most frequently diagnosed malignancy, as well as a leading cause of cancer-related mortality in men globally. Despite the initial response to hormonal targeted therapy, the majority of patients ultimately progress to a lethal form of the disease, castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Therefore, the objective of this study was to discover and develop novel treatment modalities for CRPC. Chalcones are among the highly attractive scaffolds being investigated for their antitumor activities. A library of 26 chalcone analogs were designed, synthesized and evaluated as potential therapies for CRPC. The design was guided by in-silico ADMET prediction in which analogs with favorable drug-likeness properties were prioritized. The new compounds were synthesized, purified and characterized by extensive structural elucidation studies. The compounds in vitro cytotoxicity was evaluated against two androgen receptor (AR)-negative prostate cancer cell lines (PC3 and DU145). Among the tested compounds, pyridine containing analogs (13, 15 and 16) showed potent antiproliferative activities with IC50 values ranging between 4.32-6.47 µM against PC3 and DU145 cell lines. Detailed biological studies of the lead molecule 16 revealed that it can significantly induce apoptosis through upregulation of Bax and downregulation of Bcl-2. In addition, compound 16 potently inhibited colony formation and reduced cell migration of AR-negative PCa cell lines (PC3 and DU145). The molecular pathway analysis showed that the anticancer activity of compound 16 is associated with blocking of ERK1/2 and Akt activities. Furthermore, compound 16 inhibited angiogenesis in the chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) model as compared to control. Structure-activity relationship study revealed that the cytotoxicity could dramatically improve via changing the methoxylation pattern by more than 2-folds (IC50 << 2.5 μM). These results indicate that pyridine-based chalcones could serve as promising lead molecules for the treatment of CRPC; thus, further in vitro and in vivo studies are warranted.


RSC Advances ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (58) ◽  
pp. 33794-33799 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huiqing Chen ◽  
Yajing Xing ◽  
Jia Xie ◽  
Jiuqing Xie ◽  
Dong Xing ◽  
...  

A series of novel 3-nitro-4-chromanones were synthesized and their in vitro cytotoxicity was evaluated on castration-resistant prostate cancer cell lines.


2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (4_suppl) ◽  
pp. 129-129
Author(s):  
Russell Zelig Szmulewitz ◽  
Steve Kregel ◽  
Masis Isikbay ◽  
Yi Cai ◽  
James Lin Chen ◽  
...  

129 Background: Enzalutamide (MDV3100) is a second generation androgen receptor (AR) antagonist with potent activity in the treatment of castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). However, most patients develop resistance and progression of disease; thus there is a critical need to identify novel targetable pathways mechanistically linked to this resistance. Methods: A panel of four prostate cancer cell lines (LAPC-4, LNCaP, VCaP, and CWRR1) was created each with a different AR status that are resistant to MDV3100 by culturing cells long-term less than 6 months in the drug at pharmacologic levels. The MDV3100 resistant (MDV-R) lines were assayed for proliferation, viability, resistance to docetaxel, and tumor take of subcutaneous xenografts. AR expression and ligand binding domain (LBD) DNA sequences were analyzed. Gene expression microarray comparison of resistant and non-resistant parental cell lines was performed. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and testosterone levels were analyzed from conditioned media. Results: Cell lines demonstrated heterogeneous growth characteristics.In vivo studies depicted increased or unaltered tumor take and growth in castrate athymic mice. In some cell lines growth was increased in vitro when drug was withdrawn; yet this growth was inhibited by physiological testosterone levels, both in vitro and in vivo. MDV-R cells remained sensitive to docetaxel in vitro and had increased levels of ARmRNA. However, total AR protein levels were lower or unchanged than the parental lines, with evidence for increased truncated forms of AR. The AR LBD acquired no new mutations. Secreted PSA was lower in all but one MDV-R line. Gene expression analyses demonstrated strong upregulation of IGFBP3 in all MDV-R cells. Pathway analysis implicated increased IGF and JAK/STAT signaling whereas mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling was decreased. Conclusions: Although AR-mediated pathways contribute to enzalutamide resistance, a broader approach across several cell lines suggests that there may be even a greater contribution from pleiotropic, non-AR mediated mechanisms. Such mechanisms may include IGF signaling, JAK/STAT signaling and modulation of mTOR.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaocong Pang ◽  
Junling Zhang ◽  
Xu He ◽  
Yanlun Gu ◽  
Wei Yu ◽  
...  

Abstract The bottleneck arising from castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) treatment is its high metastasis potential and anti-androgen drug resistance, which severely affects survival time of prostate cancer (PCa) patients. In our previous study, we firstly revealed SPP1 was a potential hub signature for predicting metastatic CRPC (mCRPC) development. Herein, we integrated multiple databases to explore the association of SPP1 expression with prognosis, survival, metastatic levels in CRPC progression, and also investigated SPP1 expression in PCa tissues and cell lines. Next, PCa cell lines with overexpression or depletion of SPP1 were established to study the effect of SPP1 on enzalutamide sensitivity, and adhesion and migration of prostate cancer cell lines and further explore the underlying regulatory mechanisms. Bioinformatics analysis, PCR, immunohistochemical staining and western blot results suggested SPP1 upregulation had strong relationship with the malignant progression of CRPC. SPP1 knockdown repressed enzalutamide sensitivity, invasion and migration of prostate cancer cells in vitro. Importantly, upregulating SPP1 promoted, while silencing SPP1 attenuated epithelial-mesenchymal-transition (EMT). Our results further demonstrate that SPP1 overexpression maintains the activation of PI3K/AKT signaling and ERK1/2 pathways. Overall, our findings unraveled the functional role and clinical significance of SPP1 in PCa progression, and help to discover new potential targets against mCRPC.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael C. Haffner ◽  
Akshay Bhamidipati ◽  
Harrison K. Tsai ◽  
David M. Esopi ◽  
Ajay M. Vaghasia ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND: Resistance to androgen deprivation therapies is a major driver of mortality in advanced prostate cancer. Therefore, there is a need to develop new pre-clinical models that allow the investigation of resistance mechanisms and the assessment of drugs for the treatment of castration resistant prostate cancer. METHODS: We generated two novel cell line models (LAPC4-CR and VCaP-CR) which were derived by passaging LAPC4 and VCaP cells in vivo and in vitro under castrate conditions. We performed detailed transcriptomic (RNA-seq) and proteomic analyses (SWATH-MS) to delineate expression differences between castration-sensitive and castration-resistant cell lines. Furthermore, we characterized the in vivo and in vitro growth characteristics of the novel cell line models. RESULTS: The two cell line derivatives LAPC4-CR and VCaP-CR showed castration resistant growth in vitro and in vivo which was only minimally inhibited by AR antagonists, enzalutamide and bicalutamide. High-dose androgen treatment resulted in significant growth arrest of VCaP-CR but not in LAPC4-CR cells. Both cell lines maintained AR expression, but exhibited distinct expression changes on the mRNA and protein level. Integrated analyses including data from LNCaP and the previously described castration resistant LNCaP-abl cells revealed an expression signature of castration resistance. CONCLUSIONS: The two novel cell line models LAPC4-CR and VCaP-CR and their comprehensive characterization on the RNA and protein level represent important resources to study the molecular mechanisms of castration resistance.


Author(s):  
Michelle Naidoo ◽  
Fayola Levine ◽  
Tamara Gillot ◽  
Akintunde T. Orunmuyi ◽  
E. Oluwabunmi Olapade-Olaopa ◽  
...  

High mortality rates of prostate cancer (PCa) are associated with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) due to the maintenance of androgen receptor (AR) signaling despite androgen deprivation therapies (ADTs). The 8q24 chromosomal locus is a region of very high PCa susceptibility that carries genetic variants associated with high risk of PCa incidence. This region also carries frequent amplifications of the PVT1 gene, a non-protein coding gene that encodes a cluster of microRNAs including, microRNA-1205 (miR-1205), which are largely understudied. Herein, we demonstrate that miR-1205 is underexpressed in PCa cells and tissues and suppresses CRPC tumors in vivo. To characterize the molecular pathway, we identified and validated fry-like (FRYL) as a direct molecular target of miR-1205 and observed its overexpression in PCa cells and tissues. FRYL is predicted to regulate dendritic branching, which led to the investigation of FRYL in neuroendocrine PCa (NEPC). Resistance toward ADT leads to the progression of treatment related NEPC often characterized by PCa neuroendocrine differentiation (NED), however, this mechanism is poorly understood. Underexpression of miR-1205 is observed when NED is induced in vitro and inhibition of miR-1205 leads to increased expression of NED markers. However, while FRYL is overexpressed during NED, FRYL knockdown did not reduce NED, therefore revealing that miR-1205 induces NED independently of FRYL.


2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (10) ◽  
pp. 1629-1639 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yingqiu Xie ◽  
Wenfu Lu ◽  
Shenji Liu ◽  
Qing Yang ◽  
Brett S. Carver ◽  
...  

Castration-resistant prostate cancer (PCa) (CRPC) is relapse after various forms of androgen ablation therapy and causes a major mortality in PCa patients, yet the mechanism remains poorly understood. Here, we report the nuclear form of mesenchymal epithelial transition factor (nMET) is essential for CRPC. Specifically, nMET is remarkably increased in human CRPC samples compared with naïve samples. Androgen deprivation induces endogenous nMET and promotes cell proliferation and stem-like cell self-renewal in androgen-nonresponsive PCa cells. Mechanistically, nMET activates SRY (sex determining region Y)-box9, β-catenin, and Nanog homeobox and promotes sphere formation in the absence of androgen stimulus. Combined treatment of MET and β-catenin enhances the inhibition of PCa cell growth. Importantly, MET accumulation is detected in nucleus of recurrent prostate tumors of castrated Pten/Trp53 null mice, whereas MET elevation is predominantly found in membrane of naïve tumors. Our findings reveal for the first time an essential role of nMET association with SOX9/β-catenin in CRPC in vitro and in vivo, highlighting that nuclear RTK activate cell reprogramming to drive recurrence, and targeting nMET would be a new avenue to treat recurrent cancers.


Author(s):  
Xin Chen ◽  
Changqing Xu ◽  
Yuxia Li ◽  
Xiaoming Duan ◽  
Guisen Zhao

Background: The androgen receptor (AR) signaling functions is a critical driving force for the progression of prostate cancer (PCa) to bring about anti-prostate cancer agents, and AR has been proved to be an effective therapeutic target even for castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Objective: In order to discover novel anti prostate cancer agents, we performed structural modifications based on the lead compounds T3 and 10e.Methods: A set of 1-methyl- 1H-pyrazole-5-carboxamide derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for their inhibitory activities against both expressions of prostate-specific antigen(PSA) and growth of PCa cell lines. Results: Compound H24 was found to be able to completely block PSA expression at 10 µM, and showed prominent antiproliferative activity in both the LNCaP cell line (GI 50 = 7.73 µM) and PC-3 cell line (GI 50 = 7.07 µM). Conclusions: These preliminary data supported a further evaluation of compound H24 as a potential agent to treat prostate cancer.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (6_suppl) ◽  
pp. 123-123
Author(s):  
Gunhild Von Amsberg ◽  
Mirjam Zilles ◽  
Philipp Gild ◽  
Winfried Alsdorf ◽  
Lukas Boeckelmann ◽  
...  

123 Background: Recent developments in the treatment of metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) lead to a revival of platinum-based chemotherapy demonstrating increased activity in patients with aggressive variants of disease. Here, we report on the results of a combinational salvage therapy with cisplatin, ifosfamide and paclitaxel (TIP) in mCRPC. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed patients with mCRPC treated with TIP at the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf between November 2013 and September 2020. Accompanying in vitro analyses were performed using human prostate carcinoma cell lines harboring different levels of drug resistance including the docetaxel-resistant sublines PC3-DR and DU45-DR. Results: In total, 17 mCRPC patients treated with TIP were eligible for efficacy analyses with a median age of 65 yrs. At baseline, liver metastases were present in 88%, metastases of other visceral sides (lung, adrenal gland, brain) in 47% and bone metastases in 76% of the patients. Median hemoglobin was 9.8mg/dl, LDH 903 U/l and AP 205 U/l. Median PSA value was 77 ng/ml covering a wide range including three patients with a PSA-value below 1ng/ml. NSE was evaluated in 83% of the patients (median 38,5 U/l). Patients were extensively pretreated with a median of three treatment lines before TIP (100% docetaxel, 82% abirateron and/or enzalutamide, 47% cabazitaxel, 41% others). A median of 3,5 cycles of TIP were applied with 29% of the patients receiving the maximum of 6 cycles. Four patients discontinued treatment due to side effects (PNP, infection, ifosfamide induced psychosis). At interim analyses, 59 % of the patients showed a radiological response or stable disease with only one patient progressing till the end of treatment. Median PFS was 2.5 months, median OS 6 months. A decrease of PSA > 30% and LDH > 50% was observed in 41% and 35% of the patients, respectively. In vitro experiments revealed additive effects of TIP in 22Rv1, LNCaP and DU45 cells and synergistic effects in neuroendocrine LASCPC-01 cells. In PC3 cells, TIP induced antagonistic effects at lower doses, whereas dose-independent additive effects were observed in docetaxel-resistant PC3-DR. Surprisingly, preliminary data of combined therapies with different drug pairs suggest an antagonistic effect of paclitaxel in the combination with both, cisplatin and ifosfamide. Conclusions: Combinational therapy with cisplatin, ifosfamide and paclitaxel showed promising activity in some patients with aggressive mCRPC. Preclinical data suggest that the drug combination of cisplatin and ifosfamide rule the efficacy of TIP in mCRPC.


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