Discovery of Novel Acetamide-Based Heme Oxygenase-1 Inhibitors with Potent <i>In Vitro</i> Antiproliferative Activity.
Fallica AN, Sorrenti V, D'Amico AG, Salerno L, Romeo G, Intagliata S, Consoli V, Floresta G, Rescifina A, D'Agata V, Vanella L, Pittalà V.
Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) promotes heme catabolism exercising cytoprotective roles in normal and cancer cells. Herein, we report the design, synthesis, molecular modeling, and biological evaluation of novel HO-1 inhibitors. Specifically, an amide linker in the central spacer and an imidazole were fixed, and the hydrophobic moiety required by the pharmacophore was largely modified. In many tumors, overexpression of HO-1 correlates with poor prognosis and chemoresistance, suggesting the inhibition of HO-1 as a possible antitumor strategy. Accordingly, compounds <b>7i</b> and <b>7l</b>-<b>p</b> emerged for their potency against HO-1 and were investigated for their anticancer activity against prostate (DU145), lung (A549), and glioblastoma (U87MG, A172) cancer cells. The selected compounds showed the best activity toward U87MG cells. Compound <b>7l</b> was further investigated for its in-cell enzymatic HO-1 activity, expression levels, and effects on cell invasion and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) extracellular release. The obtained data suggest that <b>7l</b> can reduce cell invasivity acting through modulation of HO-1 expression.