New Zampanolide Mimics: Design, Synthesis, and Antiproliferative Evaluation

• Main Authors: Guanglin Chen, Ziran Jiang, Qiang Zhang, Guangdi Wang, Qiao-Hong Chen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-01-01
• Series: Molecules
• Subjects: natural product; anticancer agent; synthesis; zampanolide
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/25/2/362

Zampanolide is a promising microtubule-stabilizing agent (MSA) with a unique chemical structure. It is superior to the current clinically used MSAs due to the covalent nature of its binding to <i>&#946;</i>-tubulin and high cytotoxic potency toward multidrug-resistant cancer cells. However, its further development as a viable drug candidate is hindered by its limited availability. More importantly, conversion of its chemically fragile side chain into a stabilized bioisostere is envisioned to enable zampanolide to possess more drug-like properties. As part of our ongoing project aiming to develop its mimics with a stable side chain using straightforward synthetic approaches, 2-fluorobenzyl alcohol was designed as a bioisosteric surrogate for the side chain based on its binding conformation as confirmed by the X-ray structure of tubulin complexed with zampanolide. Two new zampanolide mimics with the newly designed side chain have been successfully synthesized through a 25-step chemical transformation for each. Yamaguchi esterification and intramolecular Horner&#8722;Wadsworth&#8722;Emmons condensation were used as key reactions to construct the lactone core. The chiral centers at C17 and C18 were introduced by the Sharpless asymmetric dihydroxylation. Our WST-1 cell proliferation assay data in both docetaxel-resistant and docetaxel-naive prostate cancer cell lines revealed that compound <b>6</b> is the optimal mimic and the newly designed side chain can serve as a bioisostere for the chemically fragile <i>N</i>-acetyl hemiaminal side chain in zampanolide.