Journal Article

Creating novel translation inhibitors to target pro-survival proteins in chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Chen, Rong, Wierda, William G., Chen, Yuling, Skillern, Wesley, Romo, Daniel, Chaudhari, Rajan R., Robles, Omar, Zhang, Shuxing, Hull, Kenneth G., Zhu, Mingzhao, Plunkett, William, Qin, Qun

2019

Overview

The viability of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is critically dependent upon staving off death by apoptosis, a hallmark of CLL pathophysiology. The recognition that Mcl-1, a major component of the anti-apoptotic response, is intrinsically short-lived and must be continually resynthesized suggested a novel therapeutic approach. Pateamine A (PatA), a macrolide marine natural product, inhibits cap-dependent translation by binding to the initiation factor eIF4A. In this study, we demonstrated that a synthetic derivative of PatA, des-methyl des-amino PatA (DMDAPatA), blocked mRNA translation, reduced Mcl-1 protein and initiated apoptosis in CLL cells. This action was synergistic with the Bcl-2 antagonist ABT-199. However, avid binding to human plasma proteins limited DMDAPatA potency, precluding further development. To address this, we synthesized a new series of PatA analogs and identified three new leads with potent inhibition of translation. They exhibited less plasma protein binding and increased cytotoxic potency toward CLL cells than DMDAPatA, with greater selectivity towards CLL cells over normal lymphocytes. Computer modeling analysis correlated their structure–activity relationships and suggested that these compounds may act by stabilizing the closed conformation of eIF4A. Thus, these novel PatA analogs hold promise for application to cancers within the appropriate biological context, such as CLL.

• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group UK,Nature Publishing Group
• Subject: 38/1 / 631/67/1990/283/1895 / 631/80/82/23 / 82 / 82/80 / 96/106 / 96/2 / 96/31 / Aged / Aged, 80 and over / Analogs / Apoptosis / Apoptosis - drug effects / Bcl-2 protein / Binding / Biomarkers, Tumor - genetics / Biomarkers, Tumor - metabolism / Blood plasma / Bridged Bicyclo Compounds, Heterocyclic - pharmacology / Cancer Research / Chronic lymphocytic leukemia / Correlation analysis / Critical Care Medicine / Cytotoxicity / Drug Synergism / Drug Therapy, Combination / Epoxy Compounds - pharmacology / Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-4A - chemistry / Female / Follow-Up Studies / Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Hematology / Humans / Initiation factor eIF-4A / Intensive / Internal Medicine / Leukemia / Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell - drug therapy / Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell - metabolism / Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell - pathology / Lymphatic leukemia / Lymphocytes / Macrolides - pharmacology / Male / Mcl-1 protein / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Middle Aged / Models, Molecular / mRNA / Myeloid Cell Leukemia Sequence 1 Protein - antagonists & inhibitors / Myeloid Cell Leukemia Sequence 1 Protein - genetics / Myeloid Cell Leukemia Sequence 1 Protein - metabolism / Natural products / Oncology / Plasma proteins / Prognosis / Protein Biosynthesis - drug effects / Protein Conformation / Proteins / Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 - antagonists & inhibitors / RNA, Messenger - antagonists & inhibitors / RNA, Messenger - genetics / RNA, Messenger - metabolism / Selectivity / Sulfonamides - pharmacology / Thiazoles - pharmacology / Tumor Cells, Cultured / Viability