Synthesis and Preclinical Validation of Novel Indole Derivatives as a GPR17 Agonist for Glioblastoma Treatment

J Med Chem. 2021 Aug 12;64(15):10908-10918. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c00277. Epub 2021 Jul 25.

Abstract

The discovery of a potential ligand-targeting G protein-coupled receptor 17 (GPR17) is important for developing chemotherapeutic agents against glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). We used the integration of ligand- and structure-based cheminformatics and experimental approaches for identifying the potential GPR17 ligand for GBM treatment. Here, we identified a novel indoline-derived phenolic Mannich base as an activator of GPR17 using molecular docking of over 6000 indoline derivatives. One of the top 10 hit molecules, CHBC, with a glide score of -8.390 was synthesized through a multicomponent Petasis borono-Mannich reaction. The CHBC-GPR17 interaction leads to a rapid decrease of cAMP and Ca2+. CHBC exhibits the cytotoxicity effect on GBM cells in a dose-dependent manner with an IC50 of 85 μM, whereas the known agonist MDL29,951 showed a negligible effect. Our findings suggest that the phenolic Mannich base could be a better GPR17 agonist than MDL29,951, and further uncovering their pharmacological properties could potentiate an inventive GBM treatment.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents / chemical synthesis
  • Antineoplastic Agents / chemistry
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology*
  • Brain Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Brain Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Brain Neoplasms / pathology
  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects
  • Cell Survival / drug effects
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor
  • Glioblastoma / drug therapy*
  • Glioblastoma / metabolism
  • Glioblastoma / pathology
  • Humans
  • Indoles / chemical synthesis
  • Indoles / chemistry
  • Indoles / pharmacology*
  • Ligands
  • Molecular Structure
  • Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / agonists*
  • Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / metabolism
  • Structure-Activity Relationship

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • GPR17 protein, human
  • Indoles
  • Ligands
  • Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled
  • indole