The discovery of the rules governing the inhibition of the various HDAC isoforms is likely to be key to identifying improved therapeutics that act as epigenetic modulators of gene transcription. Herein we present results on the modification of the CAP region of a set of triazolylphenyl-based HDACIs, and show that the nature of substitution on the phenyl ring plays a role in their selectivity for HDAC1 versus HDAC6, with low to moderate selectivity (2-51-fold) being achieved. In light of the valuable selectivity and potency that were identified for the triazolylphenyl ligand 6b in the inhibition of HDAC6 (IC50 = 1.9 nM), this compound represents a valuable research tool and a candidate for further chemical modifications. Lastly, these new HDACIs were studied for both their anticancer and antimalarial activity, which serve to validate the superior activity of the HDACI 10c.

The antimalarial activity and pharmacology of a series of phenylthiazolyl-bearing hydroxamate-based histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACIs) was evaluated. In in vitro growth inhibition assays approximately 50 analogs were evaluated against four drug resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum. The range of 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC 50 s) was 0.0005 to >1 M. Five analogs exhibited IC 50 s of <3 nM, and three of these exhibited selectivity indices of >600. The most potent compound, WR301801 (YC-2-88) was shown to cause hyperacetylation of P. falciparum histones, which is a marker for HDAC inhibition in eukaryotic cells. The compound also inhibited malarial and mammalian HDAC activity in functional assays at low nanomolar concentrations. WR301801 did not exhibit cures in P. berghei-infected mice at oral doses as high as 640 mg/kg/day for 3 days or in P. falciparum-infected Aotus lemurinus lemurinus monkeys at oral doses of 32 mg/kg/day for 3 days, despite high relative bioavailability. The failure of monotherapy in mice may be due to a short half-life, since the compound was rapidly hydrolyzed to an inactive acid metabolite by loss of its hydroxamate group in vitro (half-life of 11 min in mouse microsomes) and in vivo (half-life in mice of 3.5 h after a single oral dose of 50 mg/kg). However, WR301801 exhibited cures in P. berghei-infected mice when combined at doses of 52 mg/kg/day orally with subcurative doses of chloroquine. Next-generation HDACIs with greater metabolic stability than WR301801 may be useful as antimalarials if combined appropriately with conventional antimalarial drugs.Considerable research activity has focused on understanding the "histone code," and in particular on the design of hydroxamate-based histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACIs) as novel therapeutics for the treatment of a wide range of disorders, including cancer and neurodegenerative diseases (26). HDACIs owe their action to their ability to reactivate silenced genes by modulating the condensation status of DNA. The posttranslational acetylation status of chromatin is determined by the competing activities of two classes of enzymes, histone acetyltransferases (HATs) and histone deacetylases (HDACs) which control the acetylation of lysine residues on histone tails. In general, HATs function to acetylate lysine groups in nuclear histones, resulting in neutralization of the charges on the histones and a more open, transcriptionally active chromatin structure, while the HDACs function to deacetylate and suppress transcription. A shift in the balance of acetylation on chromatin may result in changes in the regulation of patterns of gene expression (16,24,37,39). Since many cancers are associated with aberrant transcriptional activity, and HDACs can affect transcription factors and gene regulation, these enzymes have been identified as attractive targets for cancer therapy. Indeed, chemical inhibitors of HDACs have been shown to inhibit tumor cell growth and induce differentiation and cell death (28). Several such inhibitory agents,...

Two novel SF5 analogs of the antimalarial agent mefloquine were synthesized in 5 steps and 10–23% overall yields and found to have improved activity and selectivity against malaria parasites. This work also represents the first report of SF5-substituted quinolines.