Bisbenzimidazoles: Anticancer Vacuolar (H⁺)-ATPase Inhibitors

Abstract

Small molecule chemotherapeutic agents such as Imatinib, Gefitinib, and Erlotinib have played a significant role in the treatment of cancer. Although the unprecedented progress has been achieved in cancer treatment with these targeted agents, there is a strong demand for the development of selective and highly efficacious cancer drugs. V-ATPases are emerging as important target for the identification of novel therapeutic agents for cancer. Our screening and drug discovery processes have identified the bisbenzimidazole derivative (RP-15) as a potent anticancer V-ATPase inhibitor. In the present study, bisbenzimidazoles (compound-25, RP-11 and RP-15) have been tested for proton-pump inhibition activity in human hepatoma cell line (Huh7.5). RP-15 displayed comparable proton-pump inhibition activity to the standard Bafilomycin A1. We examined the antiproliferative activity of these analogs in two highly invasive and metastatic inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) cell lines (SUM 149PT and SUM190PT) along with Huh7.5. The compound-25 (SUM190PT: IC 50 = 0.43±0.11 μM) and its structural analog RP-11 (SUM190PT: IC 50 = 0.49±0.09 μM) have shown significant inhibition toward IBC cell lines. Additionally, RP-11 and RP-15 have demonstrated very good cytotoxicity toward the majority of cancer cell lines in the NCI 60 cell line panel.