. The recent discovery of the enzyme lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) has illuminated an important cellular mechanism for epigenetic control of gene expression. In particular, dimethyl lysine 4, histone H3 (H3K4me2) is a transcription activating chromatin mark at gene promoters, and aberrant demethylation of this mark by LSD1 may broadly repress the expression of tumor suppressor genes that are important in human cancer. We and others have conducted studies verifying that LSD1 is an exciting new therapeutic target. We recently reported a series of (bis)guanidines and (bis)biguanides that are potent inhibitors of recombinant human LSD1. These inhibitors significantly increase H3K4me2 levels, initiate chromatin remodeling and induce the re-expression of tumor suppressor genes, making them suitable leads for analogue development. We were the first to demonstrate antitumor effects of LSD1 inhibitors in vitro and have recently demonstrated their significant antitumor effects in vivo. These studies provide proof or principle that inhibition of LSD1 can lead to significant antitumor effects. The central hypothesis of this proposal is that compounds that inhibit LSD1 can be identified and developed for use in the treatment of human cancer. Along these lines, the specific aims of this proposal are:
Specific aim 1. Design and synthesis of multiple series of analogues as potential inhibitors of LSD1. We will use a systematic medicinal chemistry approach that includes analogue synthesis and high-throughput evaluation to produce rationally designed libraries of small-molecule LSD1 inhibitors. These analogues will be structurally related to our lead compounds, or to the LSD1 substrate. We will also use virtual screening to identify leads from commercial databases, and to suggest more potent analogues for synthesis and screening.
Specific aim 2. Evaluation of newly synthesized analogues as LSD1 inhibitors and study of their epigenetic effects in cultured tumor cells. Each analogue will be evaluated as an inhibitor of purified LSD1, and the kinetics of inhibition will be determined. The cellular effects of all analogues will be monitored in the HCT116 tumor cell line. Each compound will be evaluated alone, and in combination with a DNA methyltransferase inhibitor and/or a class I/II histone deacetylase inhibitor. We will monitor specific chromatin marks and gene products to determine whether each compound causes tumor suppressor gene re-expression, and cell growth and viability will be measured.
Specific aim 3. Evaluation of LSD1 inhibitors and combination treatments in vivo. Promising compounds and combination treatments will be advanced to dosing and efficacy studies in human HCT116 tumor xenografts. Using this approach, there is a high probability of identifying potent LSD1 inhibitors that have the potential to become an important new class of antitumor agent.

Public Health Relevance

. The recently discovered enzyme lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) has been shown to play an important role in epigenetic control of gene expression, and elevated levels of LSD1 lead to a reduced expression of tumor suppressor factors that are important in human cancer. Our group has discovered a series of guanidines and biguanides that act as potent LSD1 inhibitors and reactivate these tumor suppressor genes, making these compounds a potential new class of antitumor agents. In this proposal, we describe the design and chemical synthesis of multiple new series of related analogues that will reversibly inhibit or irreversibly inactivate LSD1, and propose experiments to determine their effects on gene expression, cellular function and their ability to inhibit tumor cell growth in culture and in a mouse xenograft model.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01CA149095-04
Application #
8444579
Study Section
Drug Discovery and Molecular Pharmacology Study Section (DMP)
Program Officer
Fu, Yali
Project Start
2010-04-01
Project End
2015-01-31
Budget Start
2013-02-01
Budget End
2014-01-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2013
Total Cost
$232,620
Indirect Cost
$44,935
Name
Medical University of South Carolina
Department
Pharmacology
Type
Schools of Pharmacy
DUNS #
183710748
City
Charleston
State
SC
Country
United States
Zip Code
29425
Kumarasinghe, Isuru R; Woster, Patrick M (2018) Cyclic peptide inhibitors of lysine-specific demethylase 1 with improved potency identified by alanine scanning mutagenesis. Eur J Med Chem 148:210-220
Wang, Bo; Pachaiyappan, Boobalan; Gruber, Jordon D et al. (2016) Antibacterial Diamines Targeting Bacterial Membranes. J Med Chem 59:3140-51
Nowotarski, Shannon L; Pachaiyappan, Boobalan; Holshouser, Steven L et al. (2015) Structure-activity study for (bis)ureidopropyl- and (bis)thioureidopropyldiamine LSD1 inhibitors with 3-5-3 and 3-6-3 carbon backbone architectures. Bioorg Med Chem 23:1601-12
Li, Youxuan; Woster, Patrick M (2015) Discovery of a new class of histone deacetylase inhibitors with a novel zinc binding group. Medchemcomm 6:613-618
Maganti, Aarthi V; Maier, Bernhard; Tersey, Sarah A et al. (2015) Transcriptional activity of the islet ? cell factor Pdx1 is augmented by lysine methylation catalyzed by the methyltransferase Set7/9. J Biol Chem 290:9812-22
Verlinden, Bianca K; de Beer, Marna; Pachaiyappan, Boobalan et al. (2015) Interrogating alkyl and arylalkylpolyamino (bis)urea and (bis)thiourea isosteres as potent antimalarial chemotypes against multiple lifecycle forms of Plasmodium falciparum parasites. Bioorg Med Chem 23:5131-43
Kutz, Craig J; Holshouser, Steven L; Marrow, Ethan A et al. (2014) 3,5-Diamino-1,2,4-triazoles as a novel scaffold for potent, reversible LSD1 (KDM1A) inhibitors. Medchemcomm 5:1863-1870
Kumarasinghe, Isuru R; Woster, Patrick M (2014) Synthesis and evaluation of novel cyclic Peptide inhibitors of lysine-specific demethylase 1. ACS Med Chem Lett 5:29-33
Pachaiyappan, Boobalan; Woster, Patrick M (2014) Design of small molecule epigenetic modulators. Bioorg Med Chem Lett 24:21-32
Murray-Stewart, Tracy; Hanigan, Christin L; Woster, Patrick M et al. (2013) Histone deacetylase inhibition overcomes drug resistance through a miRNA-dependent mechanism. Mol Cancer Ther 12:2088-99

Showing the most recent 10 out of 27 publications