1. Academic Validation
  2. Discovery of 5,6-Bis(4-methoxy-3-methylphenyl)pyridin-2-amine as a WSB1 Degrader to Inhibit Cancer Cell Metastasis

Discovery of 5,6-Bis(4-methoxy-3-methylphenyl)pyridin-2-amine as a WSB1 Degrader to Inhibit Cancer Cell Metastasis

  • J Med Chem. 2021 Jun 24;64(12):8621-8643. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c00586.
Jinxin Che 1 Zegao Jin 1 Fangjie Yan 2 3 Jieqiong You 2 Jiangfeng Xie 1 Binhui Chen 1 Gang Cheng 4 Hong Zhu 2 5 Qiaojun He 1 2 3 5 Yongzhou Hu 1 Bo Yang 2 3 Ji Cao 2 3 5 Xiaowu Dong 1 3 5
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Hangzhou Institute of Innovative Medicine, Institute of Drug Discovery and Design, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, P. R. China.
  • 2 Institute of Pharmacology & Toxicology, Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory of Anti-Cancer Drug Research, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, P. R. China.
  • 3 Innovation Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310018, P. R. China.
  • 4 College of Pharmaceutical Science, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou 311402, P. R. China.
  • 5 Cancer Center, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, P. R. China.
Abstract

The gain of cell motility is an essential prerequisite for Cancer metastasis. The ubiquitin Ligase subunit WD repeat and SOCS box-containing 1 (WSB1) has been demonstrated to regulate hypoxia-driven tumor cell migration. However, there is still a lack of methods for discovering inhibitors targeting the WSB1 axis. Here, we employed phenotypic screening models and identified compound 4 that displayed migration inhibitory activity against WSB1-overexpressing cells. Further studies indicated that it may function as a WSB1 degrader, thus leading to the accumulation of the Rho guanosine diphosphate dissociation inhibitor 2 (RhoGDI2) protein, reversing the expression of downstream F-actin and formation of membrane ruffles, and disturbing the migration capacity of Cancer cells. Moreover, compound 4 exhibited a promising in vivo Anticancer metastatic effects. Our findings show the discovery of a new WSB1 degrader, providing a unique solution for the treatment of Cancer metastasis.

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