Introduction:
Histone deacetylases (HDACs) have emerged as important therapeutic targets for various diseases, such as cancer and neurological disorders. Although a majority of HDAC inhibitors use hydroxamic acids as zinc binding groups, hydroxamic acid zinc-binding groups suffer from poor bioavailability and nonspecific metal-binding properties, necessitating a new zinc-binding group. Salicylic acid and its derivatives, well-known for their therapeutic value, have also been reported to chelate zinc ions in a bidentate fashion. This drew our attention towards replacing hydroxamic acid with salicylamide as a zinc-binding group.
Methods:
In this study, for the first time, compound
5
possessing a novel salicylamide zinc-binding group was synthesized and evaluated biologically for its ability to inhibit various HDAC isoforms and induce acetylation upon α-tubulin and histone H3 among MDA-MB-231 cells.
Results:
Compound
5
exhibits selective inhibition against class I HDAC isoforms (HDAC1, 2, and 3) over class II and IV HDAC isoforms (HDAC4, 6, and 11). The exposure of MDA-MB-231 cells to compound
5
efficiently induced the acetylation of more histone H3 than α-tubulin, suggesting that compound
5
is a class I selective HDAC inhibitor. Moreover, the molecular docking study indicated that the salicylamide zinc-binding group of compound
5
coordinates the active zinc ion of class I HDAC2 in a bidentate fashion.
Conclusion:
Overall, salicylamide represents a novel zinc-binding group for the development of class I selective HDAC inhibitors.
Graphical abstract: