Total synthesis of spiruchostatin A, a potent histone deacetylase inhibitor

The total synthesis of spiruchostatin A was accomplished, unambiguously confirming its structure. Key steps included the use of the Nagao thiazolidinethione auxiliary for a diastereoselective acetate aldol reaction and as an activated acylating agent for amide formation, and macrolactonization by the Yamaguchi protocol. Spiruchostatin A is shown to have biological activity similar to that of FK228, a potent histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor in clinical trials. The spiruchostatin A analogue, epimeric at the beta-hydroxy acid, is inactive, highlighting the importance of stereochemistry at this position for interactions with HDACs.     

Dissecting histone deacetylase function

Recent research describes the use of chromatin immunoprecipitation and intergenic chromosomal-DNA microarrays to analyze HDAC function genome-wide. The next step in realizing the full potential of these analyses will be to develop specific and temporal control over HDAC perturbation.     

Total synthesis and molecular target of largazole, a histone deacetylase inhibitor

Full details of the concise and convergent synthesis (eight steps, 19% overall yield), its extension to the preparation of a series of key analogues, and the molecular target and pharmacophore of largazole are described. Central to the synthesis of largazole is a macrocyclization reaction for formation of the strained 16-membered depsipeptide core followed by an olefin cross-metathesis reaction for installation of the thioester. The biological evaluation of largazole and its key analogues, including an acetyl analogue, a thiol analogue, and a hydroxyl analogue, suggested that histone deacetylases (HDACs) are molecular targets of largazole and largazole is a class I HDAC inhibitor. In addition, structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies revealed that the thiol group is the pharmacophore of the natural product. Largazole's HDAC inhibitory activity correlates with its antiproliferative activity.     

Enantioselective total synthesis of (+)-largazole, a potent inhibitor of histone deacetylase

An enantioselective total synthesis of the cytotoxic natural product (+)-largazole (1) is described. It is a potent histone deacetylase inhibitor. Our synthesis is convergent and involves the assembly of thiazole 3-derived carboxylic acid with amino ester 4 followed by cycloamidation of the corresponding amino acid. The synthesis features an efficient cross-metathesis, an enzymatic kinetic resolution of a beta-hydroxy ester, a selective removal of a Boc-protecting group, a HATU/HOAt-promoted cycloamidation reaction, and synthetic manipulations to a sensitive thioester functional group.     

Polymer-assisted, multi-step solution phase synthesis and biological screening of histone deacetylase inhibitors

The polymer-assisted solution phase synthesis (PASP) of an array of histone deacetylase (HDAc) inhibitors is described. HDAc inhibitors have considerable potential as new anti-proliferative agents. Selected compounds were shown to inhibit both human endothelial cell proliferation, and the formation of tubules (neovascularisation) in an in vitro model of angiogenesis.     

Borinostats: solid-phase synthesis of carborane-capped histone deacetylase inhibitors with a tailor-made selectivity profile

The elevated expression of histone deacetylases (HDACs) in various tumor types renders their inhibition an attractive strategy for epigenetic therapeutics. One key issue in the development of improved HDAC inhibitors (HDACis) is the selectivity for single HDAC isoforms over unspecific pan inhibition to minimize off-target toxicity. Utilizing the carborane moiety as a fine-tuning pharmacophore, we herein present a robust solid phase synthetic approach towards tailor-made HDACis meeting both ends of the selectivity spectrum, namely pan inhibition and highly selective HDAC6 inhibition.

This work describes a versatile solid phase synthesis of carborane-capped histone deacetylase inhibitors with a tunable selectivity profile and synergistic anticancer activity with bortezomib.     

Design,synthesis, and biological evaluation of novel histone deacetylase 6 selective inhibitors

Histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) is distinguished from other HDACs by its ability to deacetylate α-tubulin and HSP90, and was reported to be related to a variety of human diseases, such as cancers, neurodegenerative diseases, and immunological disorders. The discovery of novel HDAC6 selective inhibitors is important directions of this research field. In this paper, on the basis of a Bcl-2/HDAC6 dual target inhibitor 7g reported by us previously, a novel type of HDAC6 inhibitors was obtained by removing the binding capability to Bcl-2 protein and the subsequent systematical optimization. Among them, compounds Ⅵ-9, Ⅵ-10 and Ⅵ-11 (IC₅₀ = 3.2 ～ 3.9 nM, SI = 20.6 ～ 38.7) showed the best inhibitory activities against and excellent selectivity to HDAC6. These compounds displayed growth inhibitory selectivity to human multiple myeloma cell line over normal cell line, which indicated potential lower toxicity to normal cells and tissues.     

Conformationally locked calixarene-based histone deacetylase inhibitors

Alkyl- and arylamidocalix[4]arene derivatives 1-11 have been designed and theoretically evaluated by docking studies as potential histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi). On the basis of the trimodal distribution of the calculated inhibition constants (K(i)), five alkyl- or arylamido derivatives (3, 7, 8, 9, and 11) were synthesized and tested. A qualitative accordance between the experimental results and the theoretical predictions was obtained, confirming that appropriately substituted arylamidocalix[4]arenes are active HDACi.     

Limited proteolysis of human histone deacetylase 1

Background  

Histone deacetylase (HDAC) proteins are associated with cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, and cancer. Specifically, HDAC1 is linked with cell growth, a hallmark of cancer formation. HDAC1 is a phosphoprotein and phosphorylation at S421 and S423 promotes HDAC1 enzymatic activity and protein association. While single and double point mutants of HDAC1 at S421 and S423 appear functionally similar, the evidence suggests that HDAC1 is phosphorylated simultaneously at both S421 and S423 in vivo. Additional experiments are necessary to probe the role of double phosphorylation of HDAC1 at S421 and S423.     

Total synthesis of spiruchostatin B, a potent histone deacetylase inhibitor, from a microorganism

The first total synthesis of spiruchostatin B, a potent histone deacetylase inhibitor, was achieved in a convergent manner; the synthesis established stereochemistry at the C5' position.     

Macrolactamization versus macrolactonization: total synthesis of FK228, the depsipeptide histone deacetylase inhibitor

The cyclic depsipeptide FK228 is the only natural product histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor that has advanced to clinical trials as an anticancer agent. While currently obtained by fermentation, total synthesis is an attractive alternative that will facilitate the preparation of unnatural analogues. The previous total syntheses of FK228 featured macrocylization by ester bond formation from a seco-hydroxy acid. Such routes are operationally jeopardized by the steric hindrance of the carboxylic acid and the sensitivity of the allylic alcohol toward elimination. We report a strategically different approach whereby the ester bond is formed intermolecularly at an early stage and macrocyclization is efficiently achieved by amide bond formation.     

Phosphorus-based SAHA analogues as histone deacetylase inhibitors

[structure: see text] Three analogues of suberoyl anilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA) with phosphorus metal-chelating functionalities were synthesized as inhibitors of histone deacetylases (HDACs). The compounds showed weak activity for HeLa nuclear extracts (IC(50) = 0.57-6.1 mM), HDAC8 (IC(50) = 0.28-0.41 mM), and histone-deacetylase-like protein (HDLP, IC(50) = 0.33-1.9 mM), suggesting that the transition state of HDAC is not analogous to zinc proteases. Antiproliferative activity against A2780 cancer cells (IC(50) = 0.11-0.12 mM), comparable to SAHA (0.15 mM), was observed.     

Fully automated multi-step solution phase synthesis using polymer supported reagents: preparation of histone deacetylase inhibitors

The first fully automated multi-step polymer assisted solution phase (PASP) synthesis is described. An array of histone deacetylase (HDAc) inhibitors was prepared by an unattended 4-5 step sequence incorporating in-line 'catch and release' purification.     

Conformational analogues of Oxamflatin as histone deacetylase inhibitors

Conformational analogues of the hydroxamic acid Oxamflatin compounds, have been synthesised to enable evaluation of the impact of varying the linking section on histone deacetylase inhibition. Preliminary testing indicates treatment of leukaemia cells with each of the analogues leads to significant inhibition of histone deacetylase and reduction in cell growth and proliferation.     

Total synthesis and biological mode of action of largazole: a potent class I histone deacetylase inhibitor

The efficient total synthesis of the recently described natural substance largazole (1) and its active metabolite largazole thiol (2) is described. The synthesis required eight linear steps and proceeded in 37% overall yield. It is demonstrated that largazole is a pro-drug that is activated by removal of the octanoyl residue from the 3-hydroxy-7-mercaptohept-4-enoic acid moiety to generate the active metabolite 2, which is an extraordinarily potent Class I histone deacetylase inhibitor. Synthetic largazole and 2 have been evaluated side-by-side with FK228 and SAHA for inhibition of HDACs 1, 2, 3, and 6. Largazole and largazole thiol were further assayed for cytotoxic activity against a panel of chemoresistant melanoma cell lines, and it was found that largazole is substantially more cytotoxic than largazole thiol; this difference is attributed to differences in the cell permeability of the two substances.     

Design,synthesis, and biological evaluation of N-hydroxycinnamamide/salicylic acid hybrids as histone deacetylase inhibitors

Novel histone deacetylase(HDAC) inhibitors 9a–l were designed and synthesized by coupling the carboxyl group of salicylic acid(SA) with N-hydroxycinnamamides through various alkylol amines, and their in vitro biological activities were evaluated. The N-hydroxycinnamamide/SA hybrids 9b–f and 9h showed good to moderate anti-tumor activities. Notably, compound 9e had a greater potency, comparable to vorinostat(SAHA), in human colon carcinoma cells, which was probably, or at least partially, attributable to the positive effects of the chain length noted in alkylol amines. Furthermore, the HDAC inhibitory activities of 9e against Hela cell nuclear were also similar to that of vorinostat(SAHA), while the tested compounds 9c–f did not exhibit any isoform selectivity in the inhibition of HDACs. In addition, compound 9e could selectively inhibit tumor cells, but not inhibit non-tumor cell proliferation in vitro. Our findings suggest that the N-hydroxycinnamamide/SA hybrids may hold significant promise as therapeutic agents for the intervention of human cancers.     

Facile synthesis of troilite

Low-temperature synthetic pathways can result in crystallization of metastable materials. These methods have been widely explored for the preparation of metal oxides. Adaptation of nonhydrolytic sol-gel chemistry to non-oxide systems offers an elegant route to transition-metal sulfides. The method can be exploited for the facile and reproducible synthesis of iron sulfide crystallizing in the troilite structure. This phase is only found in meteorites and planets and has previously been obtained by high-temperature or high-energy ball-milling methods. "Nonhydrolytic" sol-gel processing results in direct crystallization of troilite with no need for further calcination.     

Facile synthesis of gamma-alkylidenebutenolides

In this paper, a novel route to gamma-alkylidenebutenolides (gamma-AIBs) by way of stereoselective vinylogous aldol reaction of the unactivated butenolide in simple and general conditions is reported.