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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2009 Jan 1.
Published in final edited form as: Bioorg Med Chem Lett. 2007 Oct 30;18(1):236–240. doi: 10.1016/j.bmcl.2007.10.088

Development of dimeric modulators for anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins

Liangyou Wang a, Fansen Kong a, Candis Kokoski b, David W Andrews b, Chengguo Xing a,*
PMCID: PMC2266893  NIHMSID: NIHMS39739  PMID: 18023349

Abstract

Bcl-2 family proteins can be classified into two subfamilies – anti-apoptotic members and pro-apoptotic members. Mechanistically, these two subfamilies can antagonize each other through heterodimerization while homodimerization have been proposed for each subfamily to carry out their corresponding anti-apoptotic or pro-apoptotic functions. To date, many small-molecule antagonists against anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins have been developed, which are monomeric modulators. In this study, a series of BH3I-1 based dimeric modulators were developed with structure-activity relationship explored. Dimeric modulators compared to the monomeric antagonists have enhanced binding activity against anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins. In addition, the acidic functional group was demonstrated to be critical for the binding interaction of the small-molecule antagonists with anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins. Finally, the representative dimeric modulator revealed enhanced activity in inducing cytochrome c release from mitochondria compared to its monomeric counterpart. Taken together, dimerization of monomeric modulators is one practical approach to enhance the bioactivity of Bcl-2 antagonists.

Keywords: Bcl-2, apoptosis, BH3I-1, dimeric, modulator

Drug resistance is a major challenge in cancer chemotherapy.1 The over-expression of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins which protect cells from apoptosis is one mechanism for tumors to acquire drug resistance.2-4 Inhibiting anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins, therefore, is one promising strategy to nullify drug resistance in cancer treatment, which has been proved valid through anti-sense approach.5 Mechanistically, anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins protect cells from apoptosis by antagonizing pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins through dimerization.6,7 Structural studies of a complex of Bcl-XL protein and a pro-apoptotic peptide (Bak BH3) have revealed a hydrophobic cleft on Bcl-XL protein as the binding pocket for the pro-apoptotic peptide8 and molecules binding to that hydrophobic cleft may overcome the protective effect of the Bcl-XL protein.9 These observations have stimulated the recent discovery of small-molecule based antagonists - a few of which are currently at various stages of clinical evaluation, such as gossypol, apogossypol, TW-37, and ABT-737.10-14

As Bcl-2 proteins form homo/hetero oligomers for their physiological functions, multivalent modulators may potentially possess unique functions that are not present in the monomeric modulators.15 In addition, it is well established that multivalency of ligands could enhance potency compared to the monomeric ones.16,17 To test these concepts in the Bcl-2 protein family, we developed a series of dimeric analogs of 3e based on BH3I-1, a small-molecule Bcl-2 antagonist developed by Degterev et al.18 Several dimeric modulators demonstrated enhanced potency to inhibit the binding of a BH3-domain Bak peptide binding to the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins while dimerization through the carboxylic acid group on 3e resulted in substantial loss of the activity. Further SAR studies confirmed that the carboxylic acid was critical for the antagonism of the small molecule against the Bcl-2 proteins. The enhanced potency of the dimeric modulators was further confirmed by its ability to induce cytochrome c release from isolated mitochondia. The cytochrome c release study also suggested that the dimeric modulator functionally mimics the monomeric antagonist.

The preparation of the dimeric modulators (3e-D1 – D4 ) followed the general synthetic route outlined in Scheme 1 (The preparation of the dimeric modulators 3e-D5 – D7 followed a similar synthetic route detailed in Supplementary Materials).19 Briefly, the syntheses of 3e-D1 – D4 started with L-phenylalanine, which first reacted with carbon disulfide and cyclized upon chloroacetate treatment to form the rhodanine compound in 45% yield. The rhodanine compound (2.2 equivalent) was then condensed with various dimeric aldehydes in refluxing toluene to afford compound 3e-D1 – D4 in 76-92% yield. These four dimeric analogs were evaluated in the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins binding assays.19 The binding was assessed for their activity to prevent the binding of Bak peptide binding to anti-apoptotic Bcl-2, Bcl-XL, and Bcl-w. All of the four dimeric modulators demonstrated improved potency to prevent the binding of Bak peptide to the three anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins tested (Table 1). The best candidate, 3e-D2 demonstrated 5 – 16 fold increase of potency compared to the monomeric 3e. The optimal linker between the monomers is a four-atom ethylene glycolic liner – increase or decrease of linker length would result in decreased activity.

Scheme 1.

Scheme 1

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General synthetic route for the syntheses of the bottom-linked dimeric modulators. Reagents and conditions: (a) CS2, NaOH; ClCH2COONa; 5.5M HCl, reflux, overnight; (b) 4,4′-[methylenebis(oxy)]bis Benzaldehyde (0.45 equivalent), NH4OAc in Toluene, reflux, 16h. (For the syntheses of 3e-D2, D3, and D4, 4,4′-Ethanediyldioxydibenzaldhyde, 4,4′-(3-Oxapentanediyldioxy)dibenzaldehyde, and 4,4′-(3,6-Dioxaoctanediyldioxy)dibenzaldehyde were used respectively instead of 4,4′-[methylenebis(oxy)]bis Benzaldehyde).

Table 1.

The inhibitory potency of BH3I-1 based modulators against Bak peptide binding to anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins.

Ki (μM)a
Bcl-2 Bcl-XL Bcl-w
3e 14.2 5.25 21.5
3e-D1 4.3 2.4 2.3
3e-D2 1.7 0.97 1.3
3e-D3 4.3 2.3 2.2
3e-D4 21.2 8.7 13.7
3e-D5 243 134 101
3e-D6 >1000 104 99
3e-D7 161 112 88.3
3e-dimer ethyl ester 226 58.4 39.2
3e ethyl ester 260 176 116
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a

Values (Ki) are given as an average of 3 experiments with triplicate performed in each individual experiment.

Delighted by these results, we further explored the other dimerization of the monomeric 3e. 3e-D5 – D7 were prepared by using L-phenylalanine based rhodanine, which first reacted with various ethylene glycol to form the dimeric rhodanines in 34 – 81% yield (Supplementary Materials). The dimeric rhodanines were then condensed with 5-bromobenzaldehyde (2.2 equivalent) for 3e-D5 – D7 (82 – 95%). These three dimers, however, all demonstrated substantial decrease of potency to prevent Bak peptide binding to anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins (Table 1). One potential cause for the loss of activity would be due to the mask of the carboxylic acid functional group on 3e. To test this hypothesis, we synthesized 3e ethyl ester and 3e ethyl ester dimer by following the same procedure for the preparation of 3e19 and 3e-D1 except that the ethyl ester of L-phenylalanine was used instead of L-phenylalanine. As hypothesized, 3e ethyl ester and 3e ethyl ester dimer all demonstrated substantially weakened ability to prevent Bak peptide binding to the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins relative to 3e (> 5 fold loss) and 3e-1D (> 15 fold loss) respectively. 3e ethyl ester dimer still revealed better potency than the monomeric 3e ethyl ester. These SAR studies demonstrate the carboxylic acid functional group on 3e is critical for its interaction with anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins. In fact, quite a few of the reported small-molecule antagonists against anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins have acidic functional groups, such as gossypol, apogossypol, ABT-737, TW-37, and the recent flavonoid compound developed by Wang et al (The acidic protons are highlighted in Figure 1). Wang et al also observed that masking the acidic functional group resulted in dramatic loss of the activity against anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins.20,21 Our study herein, in combination with the other studies, suggest that an acidic functional group may be optimal for small-molecule antagonists against anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins.

Figure 1.

Figure 1

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Structures of some reported small molecule antagonists against anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins (the acidic protons are highlighted).

To explore whether the monomeric modulator and dimeric modulator may function differently, we evaluated 3e and 3e-D2 for their ability to induce cytochrome c release from mitochondria, a key feature for mitochondrial-mediated apoptotic cascade. Both candidates induced cytochrome c release from the isolated mitochondria (Figure 3). The respective concentration to induce 50% cytochrome c release for 3e was about 69 μM while that for 3e-D2 was ∼ 6 μM, correlating with their potency to antagonize the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins.

Figure 3.

Figure 3

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The potency of 3e and 3e-D2 in releasing cytochrome c from isolated mitochondria.

In summary, dimerization of monomeric antagonist 3e could enhance the potency to bind the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins. The dimeric modulator also had enhanced activity to induce cytochrome c release from mitochondria. These studies demonstrated the dimerization is an effective approach to enhance the potency of Bcl-2 antagonists. In addition, our SAR studies in combination with others suggest that an acidic functional group is critical for the antagonism of the small molecules against anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins. Our current studies also suggest that the dimeric modulators have the same function as the monomeric antagonists.

Supplementary Material

01

Figure 2.

Figure 2

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Structures of BH3I-1 based monomeric modulators and dimeric modulators against anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins.

Footnotes

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Supplementary Materials

01
NIHMS39739-supplement-01.doc (1.1MB, doc)

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