Ricerc@Sapienza

We designed 3-aroyl-1,4-diarylpyrrole (ARDAP) derivatives as potential anticancer agents having different substituents at the 1- or 4-phenyl ring. ARDAP compounds exhibited potent inhibition of tubulin polymerization, binding of colchicine to tubulin, and cancer cell growth. ARDAP derivative 10 inhibited the proliferation of BCR/ABL-expressing KU812 and LAMA84 cells from chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients in blast crisis and of hematopoietic cells ectopically expressing the imatinib mesylate (IM)-sensitive KBM5-WT or its IM-resistant KBM5-T315I mutation.

Intense pulsed electric fields are known to act at the cell membrane level and are already being exploited in biomedical and biotechnological applications. However, it is not clear if electric pulses within biomedically-attainable parameters could directly influence intra-cellular components such as cytoskeletal proteins. If so, a molecular mechanism of action could be uncovered for therapeutic applications of such electric fields.

Microtubules are an attractive target for the development of active anti-leukemia agents (1). Despite some evidence, the therapeutic potential of colchicine site binding agents in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) has not been adequately explored.
Recently, starting from previously reported aroylindoles (ARIs, e.g. 1) we have developed 3-aroyl-1-arylpyrroles (ARAPs, e.g. 2) via benzocracking approach (Chart 1) (2). Pursuing our studies, we designed and synthesized 3-aroyl-1,4-diarylpyrroles (ARDAPs, 3-16) as potential anticancer agents (3).

We designed new 3-arylthio- and 3-aroyl-1H-indole derivatives 3–22 bearing a heterocyclic ring at position 5, 6 or 7 of the indole nucleus. The 6- and 7-heterocyclyl-1H-indoles showed potent inhibition of tubulin polymerization, binding of colchicine to tubulin and growth of MCF-7 cancer cells. Compounds 13 and 19 inhibited a panel of cancer cells and the NCI/ADR-RES multidrug resistant cell line at low nanomolar concentrations. Compound 13 at 50 nM induced 77% G2/M in HeLa cells, and at 20 nM caused 50% stable arrest of mitosis.

Novel 3-aroyl-1,4-diarylpyrrole derivatives were synthesized to explore structure-activity relationships at the phenyls at positions 1 and 4 of the pyrrole. The presence of amino phenyl rings at positions 1 and 4 of the pyrrole ring were found to be a crucial requirement for potent antitumor activity. Several compounds strongly inhibited tubulin assembly through binding to the colchicine site. Compounds 42, 44, 48, 62 and 69 showed antitumor activity with low nanomolar IC50 values in several cancer cell lines.

Background: Understanding the signalling pathways involved in angiogenesis, and developing anti-angiogenic
drugs are one of the major focuses on cancer research. Herein, we assessed the effect of CPTH6, a lysine
acetyltransferase inhibitor and anti-tumoral compound, on angiogenesis-related properties of both endothelial and
cancer cells.
Methods: The in vitro effect of CPTH6 on protein acetylation and anti-angiogenic properties on endothelial and
lung cancer cells was evaluated via wound healing, trans-well invasion and migration, tube formation,