Publications by authors named "Nianguang Li"

Through catalyzing the transfer of methyl groups onto the guanidinium of arginine, protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5) was essential to the cell growth of cancer cells. By utilizing a scaffold hopping strategy, a novel series of 3,4-dihydroisoquinolin-1()-one derivatives were designed and synthesized. Through a systematic SAR study, demonstrated excellent PRMT5 inhibitory activity, potent antiproliferative activity against Z-138, favorable pharmacokinetic profiles, and low hERG toxicity.

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Multiple myeloma (MM) is a cancer of plasma cells caused by abnormal gene expression and interactions within the bone marrow (BM) niche. The BM environment significantly influences the progression of MM. Celastrol, a natural compound derived from traditional Chinese medicine, exhibits significant anticancer effects.

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Developing selective kinase inhibitors remains a formidable challenge in drug discovery because of the highly conserved structural information on adenosine triphosphate (ATP) binding sites across the kinase family. Tailoring docking protocols to identify promising kinase inhibitor candidates for optimization has long been a substantial obstacle to drug discovery. Therefore, we introduced "Kinase-Bench," a pioneering benchmark suite designed for an advanced virtual screen, to improve the selectivity and efficacy of kinase inhibitors.

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The abnormal overexpression of FLT3 kinase is intimately associated with pathogenesis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), positioning FLT3 inhibitors as pivotal therapeutic agents. Despite the availability of three FDA-approved FLT3 inhibitors, their clinical utility is hampered by resistance stemming from tyrosine kinase domain (TKD) mutations. Through an integrative analysis of case studies, we identified a potential advantage of type I FLT3 inhibitors in overcoming TKD mutation-induced resistance.

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Post-translational modifications (PTMs) play a crucial role in regulating protein function, and their dysregulation is frequently associated with various diseases. The emergence of epigenetic drugs targeting factors such as histone deacetylases (HDACs) and histone methyltransferase enhancers of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) has led to a significant shift towards precision medicine, offering new possibilities to overcome the limitations of traditional therapeutics. In this review, we aim to systematically explore how small molecules modulate PTMs.

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The retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor γt (RORγt) is a key regulator of Th17 cells, associated with autoimmune diseases, making it a significant drug target. Herein, we designed and synthesized 1-(phenylsulfonyl)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline derivatives, improving upon GSK2981278 to enhance bioavailability. Of which, exhibited superior bioavailability (F = 48.

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Article Synopsis
  • The FLT3-ITD mutant is a target in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) treatment but is developing resistance through point mutations.
  • A new type II FLT3 inhibitor shows strong effectiveness against both FLT3-WT and FLT3-ITD tumor cells, achieving very low inhibitory concentrations.
  • In animal studies, this inhibitor significantly reduced tumor growth in models with FLT3-ITD mutations, suggesting it could be a promising treatment for FLT3-ITD-positive AML.
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  • Cancer genomics has identified oncogenes that promote cell growth and tumor suppressor genes that inhibit it, both of which are crucial in cancer development.
  • Recent research has shifted focus to non-coding RNAs (like circRNA, lncRNA, and miRNA) as potential therapeutic targets for treating cancer.
  • The article discusses the roles of these ncRNAs in various cancers, their mechanisms of action, and the importance of understanding them for effective cancer treatment strategies.
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  • Kinases are essential enzymes that regulate phosphorylation and play key roles in various biological processes, making them important for both health and disease management.
  • This study developed an affordable computer-based method to predict the repurposing of existing kinase inhibitors (KIs) by conducting cross-docking analysis, resulting in a comprehensive database of 278 unique KIs and 357 kinase structures.
  • The findings indicated that certain kinase superfamilies are promising for drug repositioning, with specific inhibitors like Olverematinib, Lapatinib, and Abemaciclib demonstrating significant activity in the AKT-PI3K-mTOR pathway, reinforcing the validity of the in silico approach for identifying potential new uses for KIs.
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Article Synopsis
  • Multiple myeloma (MM) is a type of cancer that affects the bone marrow and plasma cells, and it's the second most common blood cancer.
  • Over the past 20 years, new treatments have helped patients live longer, but many still experience relapses and develop resistance to these drugs.
  • The paper discusses new ideas for treating MM, including small molecule therapies and multi-target treatments to help overcome drug resistance and improve results for patients.
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Over the past decades, the role of rearranged during transfection (RET) alterations in tumorigenesis has been firmly established. RET kinase inhibition is an essential therapeutic target in patients with RET-altered cancers. In clinical practice, initial efficacy can be achieved in patients through the utilization of multikinase inhibitors (MKIs) with RET inhibitory activity.

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Retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor γ (RORγ) acts as a crucial transcription factor in Th17 cells and is involved in diverse autoimmune disorders. RORγ allosteric inhibitors have gained significant research focus as a novel strategy to inhibit RORγ transcriptional activity. Leveraging the high affinity and selectivity of RORγ allosteric inhibitor (), this study presents the design, synthesis, and characterization of 11 allosteric fluorescent probes.

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Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the most common type of blood cancer and has been strongly correlated with the overexpression of Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3), a member of the class III receptor tyrosine kinase family. With the emergence of FLT3 internal tandem duplication alteration (ITD) and tyrosine kinase domain (TKD) mutations, the development of FLT3 small molecule inhibitors has become an effective medicinal chemistry strategy for AML. Herein, we have designed and synthesized two series of 1H-pyrrolo[2,3-b]pyridine derivatives CM1-CM24, as FLT3 inhibitors based on F14, which we previously reported, that can target the hydrophobic FLT3 back pocket.

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The therapeutic benefits of available FLT3 inhibitors for AML are limited by drug resistance, which is related to mutations, as well toxicity caused by off-target effects. In this study, we introduce a new small molecule FLT3 inhibitor called danatinib, which was designed to overcome the limitations of currently approved agents. Danatinib demonstrated greater potency and selectivity, resulting in cytotoxic activity specific to FLT3-ITD and/or FLT3-TKD mutated models.

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  • Xiao-Ai Jie-Du decoction (XAJDD) is traditionally used to treat diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) with varying prescriptions tailored to patients' conditions.* -
  • The study aimed to identify the core ingredients of XAJDD and understand how they work against DLBCL using data mining and in silico modeling.* -
  • The core formula includes six herbs, and key components like astibin and quercetin were found to significantly inhibit DLBCL cell proliferation and promote apoptosis, helping to reveal the treatment's molecular mechanisms.*
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Virus infection has been one of the main causes of human death since the ancient times. Even though more and more antiviral drugs have been approved in clinic, long-term use can easily lead to the emergence of drug resistance and side effects. Fortunately, there are many kinds of metabolites which were produced by plants, marine organisms and microorganisms in nature with rich structural skeletons, and they are natural treasure house for people to find antiviral active substances.

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A series of tetrahydrothienopyridine derivatives have been designed, synthesized, and evaluated as selective BChE inhibitors. Compounds were analyzed via HRMS, H NMR, and C NMR. The inhibitory effects were evaluated according to the method of Ellman et al.

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Glioma is one of the most common types of brain tumors, and its high recurrence and mortality rates threaten human health. In 2008, the frequent isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) mutations in glioma were reported, which brought a new strategy in the treatment of this challenging disease. In this perspective, we first discuss the possible gliomagenesis after IDH1 mutations (mIDH1).

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The clinical benefits of FLT3 inhibitors against acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have been limited by selectivity and resistance mutations. Thus, to identify FLT3 inhibitors possessing high selectivity and potency is of necessity. The authors used computational methods to systematically compare pocket similarity with 269 kinases.

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Small molecule covalent drugs have proved to be desirable therapies especially on drug resistance related to point mutations. Secondary mutations of FLT3 have become the main mechanism of FLT3 inhibitors resistance which further causes the failure of treatment. Herein, a series of 4-(4-aminophenyl)-6-phenylisoxazolo[3,4-b]pyridine-3-amine covalent derivatives were synthesized and optimized to overcome the common secondary resistance mutations of FLT3.

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A series of novel 9--substituted-13-octylberberine derivatives were designed, synthesised and evaluated for their anti-hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) activities. Compound showed the strongest activity against three human hepatoma cells including HepG2, Sk-Hep-1 and Huh-7 cells with IC values from 0.62 to 1.

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Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) mutation has been strongly associated with increased risk of relapse, and the irreversible covalent FLT3 inhibitors had the potential to overcome the drug-resistance. In this study, a series of simplified 4-(4-aminophenyl)-6-methylisoxazolo[3,4-b] pyridin-3-amine derivatives containing two types of Michael acceptors (vinyl sulfonamide, acrylamide) were conveniently synthesized to target FLT3 and its internal tandem duplications (ITD) mutants irreversibly. The kinase inhibitory activities showed that compound C14 displayed potent inhibition activities against FLT3 (IC = 256 nM) and FLT3-ITD by 73 % and 25.

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Despite significant efficacy, one of the major limitations of small-molecule Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) agents is the presence of clinically acquired resistance, which remains a major clinical challenge. This Perspective focuses on medicinal chemistry strategies for the development of BTK small-molecule inhibitors against resistance, including the structure-based design of BTK inhibitors targeting point mutations, e.g.

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