Fatty Acid Synthase Inhibitors as Possible Treatment for Cancer: Patent Highlight

Ahmed F Abdel-Magid

doi:10.1021/ml3001566

editorial

. 2012 Jul 5;3(8):612–613. doi: 10.1021/ml3001566

Fatty Acid Synthase Inhibitors as Possible Treatment for Cancer

Patent Highlight

Ahmed F Abdel-Magid ^1,^*

PMCID: PMC4025849 PMID: 24900519

Title:	Fatty acid synthase inhibitors
Patent Application Number:	WO2012/064642Al	Publication date:	May 24, 2012
Priority Application:	61/411,110	Priority date:	November 8, 2010, US
Inventors:	Adams, Nicholas D.; Chaudhari, Amita M.; Kiesow, Terence J.; Parrish, Cynthia Ann; Reif, Alexander J.; Ridgers, Lance H.; Schmidt, Stanley J.; Wiggall, Kenneth
Assignee Company:	GlaxoSmithkline LLC, One Franklin Plaza, 200 North 16th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19102, United States
Disease Area:	Cancer	Biological Target:	Fatty Acid Synthase (FAS)
Summary:	The spirocyclic piperidines of formula (I) inhibit the function of fatty acid synthase (FAS). FAS is a multifunctional homodimeric enzyme protein, and it is the major enzyme required for the anabolic conversion of dietary carbohydrates to fatty acids. It synthesizes long-chain fatty acids by using acetyl-CoA as a primer, malonyl Co-A as a 2 carbon donor, and NADPH for reduction. The normal level of activity of FAS in adult cells is very low, as most normal human tissues preferentially acquire fatty acids from dietary sources. However, many cancer tumor cells have shown high rates of fatty acid synthesis and overexpression of FAS in numerous cancer types including prostate, ovary, colon, endometrium, lung, bladder, stomach, and kidney. This variance in the levels of FAS in tumors versus normal cells suggests a potential link between increased FAS expression and increased risk of cancer. Controlling FAS levels may provide some means of cancer therapy and makes inhibition of FAS a major potential target in cancer treatment. The claimed compounds of formula (I) described in this patent application as inhibitors of FAS may be used for treating cancer in humans.
Important Compound Classes:
Key Structures:	The syntheses of 146 examples of the compounds of formula (I) are described in the experimental section. The following are three structural examples:

Biological Assay:	FAS activity was measured through one of the two following assays:
	1. The detection of residual NADPH substrate after the FAS assay is quenched
	2. The detection of the CoA products with a thio-reactive coumarin dye
Biological Data:	Examples were tested for FAS inhibition. The IC₅₀ values ranged from about 1 nM to about 10 mM. The IC₅₀ values of the more active compounds range from about 1 to about 200 nM. The most active compounds are under 10 nM. The average IC₅₀ values of some of the examples are listed in the table below:

Claims:	Claims 1–12: composition of matter; variations of formula I
	Claim 13: composition of matter; 146 examples of the compounds of formula (I) are claimed specifically by name
	Claim 14: a pharmaceutical composition
	Claims 15–18: method for treating cancer
Recent Review Articles:	Pandey P. R.; Liu W.; Xing F.; Fukuda K.; Watabe K.. Anticancer drugs targeting fatty acid synthase (FAS). Recent Pat. Anti-cancer Drug Discovery 2012, 7 (2), 185–197.
	Tian W.-x.; Ma X.-f.; Zhang S.-y.; Sun Y.-h.; Li B.-h.. Fatty acid synthase inhibitors from plants and their potential application in the prevention of metabolic syndrome. Clin. Oncol. Cancer Res. 2011, 8 (1), 1–9.
	Wang C.; Rajput S.; Watabe K.; Liao D.-F.; Cao D.. Acetyl-CoA carboxylase-α as a novel target for cancer therapy. Front. Biosci., Scholar Ed. 2010, S2 (2), 515–526.
	Ariel I. R.Stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1: A novel key player in the mechanisms of cell proliferation, programmed cell death and transformation to cancer. Carcinogenesis 2010, 31 (9), 1509–1515.
	Lupu R.; Menendez J. A.. Pharmacological inhibitors of Fatty Acid Synthase (FASN)-catalyzed endogenous fatty acid biogenesis: A new family of anticancer agents? Curr. Pharm. Biotechnol. 2006, 7 (6), 483–493.