Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels, plays an essential role in the pathogenesis of several important human diseases including cancer. Inhibition of angiogenesis is a promising strategy to control tumor growth and metastasis. The main objective of this application is to discover and develop new angiogenesis inhibitors from existing clinical drugs and to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of angiogenesis inhibition by two angiogenesis inhibitors previously discovered to facilitate the development of the next generation of angiogenesis inhibitors for the treatment of cancer. In preliminary studies, we have assembled a library of mostly FDA-approved clinical drugs and screened it in an endothelial cell proliferation assay. We have identified several potent hits including an immunosuppressant drug and an antifungal drug. We have further demonstrated the efficacy of both drugs in blocking VEGF- and bFGF- mediated angiogenesis in vivo. In this study, we propose to further expand the clinical drug library to include more FDA-approved drugs as well as those that have reached phase II clinical trials to identify additional inhibitors of angiogenesis and make the library available to the wider scientific community to screen in other cellular models. We will further characterize the function of the immunosuppressant target in both T cell activation and angiogenesis in mice and humans. We will attempt to identify new inhibitors for the immunosuppressant target to reduce the toxicity of the existing drug by a combination of combinatorial click chemistry and high-throughput screening. We will perform experiments to verify a potential target for the antifungal drug in endothelial cells and perform SAR studies on the antifungal drug in attempts to prepare affinity reagents to identify and validate its target in endothelial cells and to improve the efficacy of the drug for inhibition of angiogenesis and tumor growth. Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels, plays an essential role in several important human diseases including cancer. The main objective of this application is to discover and develop new angiogenesis inhibitors from existing drugs to accelerate the translation of basic research findings into new cancer treatments and to facilitate the development of future generations of anti-angiogenic drugs with improved specificity and lower toxicity.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01CA122814-04
Application #
8002099
Study Section
Drug Discovery and Molecular Pharmacology Study Section (DMP)
Program Officer
Lees, Robert G
Project Start
2008-01-01
Project End
2012-12-31
Budget Start
2011-01-01
Budget End
2011-12-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2011
Total Cost
$330,091
Indirect Cost
Name
Johns Hopkins University
Department
Pharmacology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
001910777
City
Baltimore
State
MD
Country
United States
Zip Code
21218
Shim, Joong Sup; Li, Ruo-Jing; Lv, Junfang et al. (2015) Inhibition of angiogenesis by selective estrogen receptor modulators through blockade of cholesterol trafficking rather than estrogen receptor antagonism. Cancer Lett 362:106-15
Wang, Minghua; Shim, Joong Sup; Li, Ruo-Jing et al. (2014) Identification of an old antibiotic clofoctol as a novel activator of unfolded protein response pathways and an inhibitor of prostate cancer. Br J Pharmacol 171:4478-89
Wissing, Michel D; Mendonca, Janet; Kim, Eunice et al. (2013) Identification of cetrimonium bromide and irinotecan as compounds with synthetic lethality against NDRG1 deficient prostate cancer cells. Cancer Biol Ther 14:401-10
Choi, Su Mi; Kim, Yonghak; Shim, Joong Sup et al. (2013) Efficient drug screening and gene correction for treating liver disease using patient-specific stem cells. Hepatology 57:2458-68
Peng, Chi-Chi; Shi, Wei; Lutz, Justin D et al. (2012) Stereospecific metabolism of itraconazole by CYP3A4: dioxolane ring scission of azole antifungals. Drug Metab Dispos 40:426-35
Shim, Joong Sup; Rao, Rajini; Beebe, Kristin et al. (2012) Selective inhibition of HER2-positive breast cancer cells by the HIV protease inhibitor nelfinavir. J Natl Cancer Inst 104:1576-90
Liu-Chittenden, Yi; Huang, Bo; Shim, Joong Sup et al. (2012) Genetic and pharmacological disruption of the TEAD-YAP complex suppresses the oncogenic activity of YAP. Genes Dev 26:1300-5
Nacev, Benjamin A; Liu, Jun O (2011) Synergistic inhibition of endothelial cell proliferation, tube formation, and sprouting by cyclosporin A and itraconazole. PLoS One 6:e24793
Wilson, Brice A P; Wang, Haofan; Nacev, Benjamin A et al. (2011) High-throughput screen identifies novel inhibitors of cancer biomarker ýý-methylacyl coenzyme A racemase (AMACR/P504S). Mol Cancer Ther 10:825-38
Nacev, Benjamin A; Low, Woon-Kai; Huang, Zhennian et al. (2011) A calcineurin-independent mechanism of angiogenesis inhibition by a nonimmunosuppressive cyclosporin A analog. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 338:466-75

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