2. Academic Validation
  3. Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation studies of novel carboxylesterase 2 inhibitors for the treatment of irinotecan-induced delayed diarrhea

Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation studies of novel carboxylesterase 2 inhibitors for the treatment of irinotecan-induced delayed diarrhea

  • Bioorg Chem. 2023 Sep;138:106625. doi: 10.1016/j.bioorg.2023.106625.
Zhongcheng Yang 1,  Zhijun Cao 2,  Wenxin Wang 1,  Ya Chen 1,  Wanqiu Huang 3,  Shixuan Jiao 2,  Siliang Chen 1,  Lianru Chen 1,  Yuxia Liu 1,  Jianming Mao 1,  Luyong Zhang 4,  Zheng Li 5
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 School of Pharmacy, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China.
  • 2 School of Pharmacy, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China; Key Specialty of Clinical Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China; Key Laboratory of New Drug Discovery and Evaluation of the Guangdong Provincial Education Department, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China.
  • 3 School of Pharmacy, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China; Key Specialty of Clinical Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China; Key Laboratory of New Drug Discovery and Evaluation of the Guangdong Provincial Education Department, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China; Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Construction and Application of New Drug Screening Model Systems, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China.
  • 4 Key Laboratory of New Drug Discovery and Evaluation of the Guangdong Provincial Education Department, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China; Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Construction and Application of New Drug Screening Model Systems, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China. Electronic address: lyzhang@cpu.edu.cn.
  • 5 School of Pharmacy, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China; Key Specialty of Clinical Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China; Key Laboratory of New Drug Discovery and Evaluation of the Guangdong Provincial Education Department, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China; Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Construction and Application of New Drug Screening Model Systems, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China; Guangdong Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Bioactive Substances, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China. Electronic address: lizhengdrug@gdpu.edu.cn.
PMID: 37300962 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioorg.2023.106625
Abstract

Human Carboxylesterase 2 (hCES2A), one of the most important serine hydrolases distributed in the small intestine and colon, plays a crucial role in the hydrolysis of various prodrugs and esters. Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that the inhibition of hCES2A effectively alleviate the side effects induced by some hCES2A-substrate drugs, including delayed diarrhea caused by the Anticancer drug irinotecan. Nonetheless, there is a scarcity of selective and effective inhibitors that are suitable for irinotecan-induced delayed diarrhea. Following screening of the in-house library, the lead compound 01 was identified with potent inhibition on hCES2A, which was further optimized to obtain LK-44 with potent inhibitory activity (IC50 = 5.02 ± 0.67 μM) and high selectivity on hCES2A. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations indicated that LK-44 can formed stable hydrogen bonds with Amino acids surrounding the active cavity of hCES2A. The results of inhibition kinetics studies unveiled that LK-44 inhibited hCES2A-mediated FD hydrolysis in a mixed inhibition manner, with a Ki value of 5.28 μM. Notably, LK-44 exhibited low toxicity towards HepG2 cells according to the MTT assay. Importantly, in vivo studies showed that LK-44 significantly reduced the side effects of irinotecan-induced diarrhea. These findings suggested that LK-44 is a potent inhibitor of hCES2A with high selectivity against hCES1A, which has potential as a lead compound for the development of more effective hCES2A inhibitors to mitigate irinotecan-induced delayed diarrhea.

Keywords

Delayed diarrhea; Human carboxylesterase 2; Irinotecan; Molecular docking; Molecular dynamics simulation.

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