title: Conformationally defined 6-s-trans-retinoic acid analogs. 3. Structure-activity relationships for nuclear receptor binding, transcriptional activity, and cancer chemopreventive activity.
abstract: We recently demonstrated that conformationally defined 6-s-trans-retinoic acid (RA) analogs were effective in the prevention of skin papillomas (Vaezi et al. J. Med. Chem. 1994, 37, 4499-4507) and selective agonists for nuclear receptor binding and activation (Alam et al. J. Med. Chem. 1995, 38, 2302-2310). In order to probe important structure-activity relationships, we evaluated a homologous series of four 6-s-trans-retinoids that are 8-(2'-cyclohexen-1'-ylidene)-3,7-dimethyl-2,4,6-octatrienoic acids with different substituents at 2' (R2) and 3' (R1) positions on the cyclohexene ring. UAB1 (R1 = R2 = H), UAB4 (R1 = R2 = Me), UAB7 (R1 = Me, R2 = iPr), and UAB8 (R1 = Et, R2 = iPr) contain alkyl R groups that mimic, to different extents, portions of the trimethylcyclohexenyl ring of RA. Both 9Z- and all-E-isomers of these retinoids were evaluated in binding assays for cellular retinoic acid-binding proteins (CRABP-I and CRABP-II), a nuclear retinoic acid receptor (RAR alpha), and a nuclear retinoid X receptor (RXR alpha). The all-E-isomers of UAB retinoids bound tightly to CRABPs and RAR alpha, the binding affinity of the all-E-isomer increased systematically from UAB1 to UAB8, and binding for the latter was comparable to that of all-E-RA. In contrast to RA, the (9Z)-UAB retinoids were at least 200-fold less active than the all-E-isomers in binding to RAR alpha. The (9Z)-UAB isomers exhibited increasingly stronger binding to RXR alpha, and (9Z)-UAB8 was nearly as effective as (9Z)-RA in binding affinity. The retinoids were also evaluated in gene expression assays mediated by RAR alpha and RXR alpha homodimers or RAR alpha/RXR alpha heterodimers. Consistent with the binding affinities, the (all-E)-UAB retinoids activated gene transciption mediated by RAR alpha homodimers or RAR alpha/RXR alpha heterodimers, while the (9Z)-UAB isomers activated only the RXR alpha homodimer-mediated transcription. The all-E- and 9Z-isomers of the UAB retinoids were further evaluated for their capacity to prevent the induction of mouse skin papillomas. When compared to RA, only the (all-E)-UAB retinoids containing bulky R1 and R2 groups were effective in this chemoprevention assay. (9Z)-RA displayed equal capacity as RA to prevent papillomas, while the 9Z-isomers of the UAB retinoids were much less effective. Taken together, these studies demonstrate that the cyclohexenyl ring substituents of 6-s-trans-UAB retinoids are important for their biological activities and that the chemopreventive effect of the all-E-isomers of these retinoids correlates well with their capacity to bind to RARs and activate RAR/RXR-mediated transcription.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Alabama at Birmingham 35294, USA.
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Muccio
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Brouillette
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alam
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Vaezi
authors.forename: B P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Sani
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Venepally
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Reddy
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: A W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Norris
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Simpson-Herren
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Hill
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016588:Anticarcinogenic Agents; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D015394:Molecular Structure; D010212:Papilloma / Q000517:prevention & control; D018168:Receptors, Retinoic Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D047488:Retinoid X Receptors; D012176:Retinoids / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control; D013237:Stereoisomerism; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D013816:Thermodynamics; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D016588:Anticarcinogenic Agents; D018168:Receptors, Retinoic Acid; D047488:Retinoid X Receptors; D012176:Retinoids; D014157:Transcription Factors; C082927:retinoic acid binding protein I, cellular; C082928:retinoic acid binding protein II, cellular