A Novel Covalent mTOR Inhibitor, DHM25, Shows in Vivo Antitumor Activity against Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Cells

J Med Chem. 2015 Aug 27;58(16):6559-73. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.5b00991. Epub 2015 Aug 14.

Abstract

Constitutive activation of the PI3K/mTOR signaling pathway contributes to carcinogenesis and metastasis in most, if not all, breast cancers. From a chromene backbone reported to inhibit class I PI3K catalytic subunits, several rounds of chemical syntheses led to the generation of a new collection of chromologues that showed enhanced ability to kill PI3K-addicted cancer cells and to inhibit Akt phosphorylation at serine 473, a hallmark of PI3K/mTOR activation. This initial screen uncovered a chromene designated DHM25 that exerted potent antitumor activity against breast tumor cell lines. Strikingly, DHM25 was shown to be a selective and covalent inhibitor of mTOR using biochemical and cellular analyses, modeling, and a large panel of kinase activity assays spanning the human kinome (243 kinases). Finally, in vivo, this novel drug was an efficient inhibitor of growth and metastasis of triple-negative breast cancer cells, paving the way for its clinical application in oncology.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antineoplastic Agents / chemical synthesis
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology*
  • Benzopyrans / chemical synthesis
  • Benzopyrans / pharmacology*
  • Breast Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred NOD
  • Models, Molecular
  • Oncogene Protein v-akt / metabolism
  • Phosphoinositide-3 Kinase Inhibitors
  • Phosphorylation / drug effects
  • Signal Transduction / drug effects
  • Structure-Activity Relationship
  • TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases / antagonists & inhibitors*

Substances

  • 6,8-dibromo-2-(4-bromophenyl)-3-nitro-2H-chromene
  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Benzopyrans
  • Phosphoinositide-3 Kinase Inhibitors
  • Oncogene Protein v-akt
  • TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases