Pioneering first-in-class HDAC-ROCK inhibitors as potential multitarget anticancer agents.

Aim: With the aim of simultaneously modulating the epigenetic system and the protein kinase pathway, we selected the enzyme histone deacetylase (HDAC) and the Rho-associated protein kinases (ROCK) as desired targets to develop potential multitarget anticancer agents with additional antimetastatic properties. We report here the rational design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of the HDAC/ROCK multitarget inhibitors in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).

Materials And Methods: A molecular docking study performed with the Gold software was used to develop HDAC/ROCK multitarget inhibitors.

Hemisynthetic alkaloids derived from trilobine are antimalarials with sustained activity in multidrug-resistant .

Malaria eradication requires the development of new drugs to combat drug-resistant parasites. We identified bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids isolated from that are active against blood stages. Synthesis of a library of 94 hemi-synthetic derivatives allowed to identify compound that kills multi-drug resistant clinical isolates in the nanomolar range (median IC ranging from 35 to 88 nM).

Identification of Chemical Probes Targeting MBD2.

Epigenetics has received much attention in the past decade. Many insights on epigenetic (dys)regulation in diseases have been obtained, and clinical therapies targeting them are in place. However, the readers of the epigenetic marks are lacking enlightenment behind this revolution, and it is poorly understood how DNA methylation is being read and translated to chromatin function and cellular responses.

A novel screening strategy to identify histone methyltransferase inhibitors reveals a crosstalk between DOT1L and CARM1.

Epigenetic regulation is a dynamic and reversible process that controls gene expression. Abnormal function results in human diseases such as cancer, thus the enzymes that establish epigenetic marks, such as histone methyltransferases (HMTs), are potentially therapeutic targets. Noteworthily, HMTs form multiprotein complexes that in concert regulate gene expression.

Synthesis and Biological Activity of a Cytostatic Inhibitor of MLLr Leukemia Targeting the DOT1L Protein.

Histone methyltransferase DOT1L catalyzes mono-, di- and trimethylation of histone 3 at lysine residue 79 (H3K79) and hypermethylation of H3K79 has been linked to the development of acute leukemias characterized by the MLL (mixed-lineage leukemia) rearrangements (MLLr cells). The inhibition of H3K79 methylation inhibits MLLr cells proliferation, and an inhibitor specific for DOT1L, pinometostat, was in clinical trials (Phase Ib/II). However, the compound showed poor pharmacological properties.