1. Academic Validation
  2. Macrocyclic Hedgehog Pathway Inhibitors: Optimization of Cellular Activity and Mode of Action Studies

Macrocyclic Hedgehog Pathway Inhibitors: Optimization of Cellular Activity and Mode of Action Studies

  • ACS Med Chem Lett. 2012 Oct 11;3(10):808-813. doi: 10.1021/ml300172p.
Chris Dockendorff 1 Marek M Nagiec Michel Weïwer Sara Buhrlage Amal Ting Partha P Nag Andrew Germain Han-Je Kim Willmen Youngsaye Christina Scherer Melissa Bennion Linlong Xue Benjamin Z Stanton Timothy A Lewis Lawrence Macpherson Michelle Palmer Michael A Foley José R Perez Stuart L Schreiber
Affiliations

Affiliation

  • 1 Chemical Biology Platform and Probe Development Center and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT , 7 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States.
Abstract

Macrocyclic Hedgehog (Hh) pathway inhibitors have been discovered with improved potency and maximal inhibition relative to the previously reported macrocycle robotnikinin. Analogues were prepared using a modular and efficient build-couple-pair (BCP) approach, with a ring-closing metathesis step to form the macrocyclic ring. Varying the position of the macrocycle nitrogen and oxygen atoms provided inhibitors with improved activity in cellular assays; the most potent analogue was 29 (BRD-6851), with an IC(50) of 0.4 μM against C3H10T1/2 cells undergoing Hh-induced activation, as measured by Gli1 transcription and Alkaline Phosphatase induction. Studies with Patched knockout (Ptch(-/-)) cells and competition studies with the Smoothened (Smo) agonists SAG and purmorphamine demonstrate that in contrast to robotnikinin, select analogues are Smo antagonists.

Figures