Hybridization Approach to Identify Salicylanilides as Inhibitors of Tubulin Polymerization and Signal Transducers and Activators of Transcription 3 (STAT3)

The superimposition of the X-ray complexes of cyclohexanediones (i.e., TUB015), described by our research group, and nocodazole, within the colchicine binding site of tubulin provided an almost perfect overlap of both ligands. This structural information led us to propose hybrids of TUB015 and nocod...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Gargantilla, Marta, Persoons, Leentje, Kauerová, Tereza, Río, Natalia del, Daelemans, Dirk, Priego, Eva María, Kollar, Peter, Peréz-Pérez, María-Jesús
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2022
Country:España
Institution:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repository:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/279953
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/279953
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Tubulin polymerization inhibitors
Colchicine site
Salicylanilides
Niclosamide
Signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT3) inhibitors
Description
Summary:The superimposition of the X-ray complexes of cyclohexanediones (i.e., TUB015), described by our research group, and nocodazole, within the colchicine binding site of tubulin provided an almost perfect overlap of both ligands. This structural information led us to propose hybrids of TUB015 and nocodazole using a salicylanilide core structure. Interestingly, salicylanilides, such as niclosamide, are well-established signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT3) inhibitors with anticancer properties. Thus, different compounds with this new scaffold have been synthesized with the aim to identify compounds inhibiting tubulin polymerization and/or STAT3 signaling. As a result, we have identified new salicylanilides (6 and 16) that showed significant antiproliferative ac- tivity against a panel of cancer cells. Both compounds were able to reduce the levels of p-STAT3Tyr705 without affecting the total expression of STAT3. While compound 6 inhibited tubulin polymerization and arrested the cell cycle of DU145 cells at G2/M, similar to TUB015, compound 16 showed a more potent effect on inhibiting STAT3 phosphorylation and arrested the cell cycle at G1/G0, similar to niclosamide. In both cases, no toxicity towards PBMC cells was detected. Thus, the salicylanilides described here represent a new class of antiproliferative agents affecting tubulin polymerization and/or STAT3 phosphorylation.