title: Antagonizing STAT3 activation with benzo[b]thiophene 1, 1-dioxide based small molecules.
abstract: STAT3 is an attractive therapeutic target for cancer therapy. However, due to low potency or poor druggability, none of its inhibitors are clinically available. Herein, a series of aminobenzo[b]thiophene 1, 1-dioxides with good drug-likeness properties were designed, synthesized and evaluated as STAT3 inhibitors. Most of them exhibited higher antitumor activity than the small-molecule STAT3 inhibitor, Stattic. Compound 15 was the most potent and had an IC50range in 0.33-0.75 μM in various cancer cell lines. The overexpressed and IL-6 induced phosphorylation levels of STAT3 were both inhibited by 15 without influencing the phosphorylation levels of the upstream kinases Src and Jak2. 15 also suppressed the expressions of STAT3 downstream gene, Bcl-2. 15 effectively increased the ROS levels of cancer cells, induced cancer cell apoptosis and abolished the colony formation ability of cancer cells without affecting bypass kinase p-Erk. Furthermore, 15in vivo induced significant antitumor responses, and exhibited less toxicity than Doxorubicin. Together, this study described a class of new STAT3 inhibitors as antitumor agents.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, Department of Natural Medicinal Chemistry, China Pharmaceutical University, 24 Tong Jia Xiang, Nanjing 210009, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wenda
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, Department of Natural Medicinal Chemistry, China Pharmaceutical University, 24 Tong Jia Xiang, Nanjing 210009, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, Department of Natural Medicinal Chemistry, China Pharmaceutical University, 24 Tong Jia Xiang, Nanjing 210009, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shanshan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, Department of Natural Medicinal Chemistry, China Pharmaceutical University, 24 Tong Jia Xiang, Nanjing 210009, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yanwei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, Department of Natural Medicinal Chemistry, China Pharmaceutical University, 24 Tong Jia Xiang, Nanjing 210009, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jianpeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, Department of Natural Medicinal Chemistry, China Pharmaceutical University, 24 Tong Jia Xiang, Nanjing 210009, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: ywy@cpu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Wenying
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, Department of Natural Medicinal Chemistry, China Pharmaceutical University, 24 Tong Jia Xiang, Nanjing 210009, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: cpu_lykong@126.com.
authors.forename: Lingyi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kong
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D001665:Binding Sites; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D020128:Inhibitory Concentration 50; D008958:Models, Molecular; D062105:Molecular Docking Simulation; D010087:Oxides / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D013876:Thiophenes / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D010087:Oxides; D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor; D013876:Thiophenes; C088015:benzothiophene
keywords: Aminobenzo[b]thiophene 1, 1-dioxides; Antitumor agents; Drug-likeness properties; STAT3 phosphorylation, Apoptosis