The Characterization of the Novel Chloroquine Derivative VR23 for its Anticancer Properties

Abstract

Since Bortezomib®, a proteasome inhibitor, was approved by US FDA for the treatment of multiple myeloma in 2003, proteasome is recognized as one of the most promising targets for cancer therapeutics. The proteasomes play a critical role in regulating the level of cellular proteins and recycling damaged and misfolded proteins. Although the activity of the proteasome is essential for normal cells, it is especially critical for the proliferation and survival of cancer cells. In an attempt to develop effective and safe proteasome inhibitor-based anticancer drugs, the Lee laboratory created a chemical library by a hybrid approach using a 4-piperazinylquinoline scaffold and a sulfonyl phamarcophore. It is known that the chloroquine scaffold possesses a weak proteasome inhibition activity, and chloroquine itself preferentially kills malignant cells over non-cancer cells, alone or in combination with other therapeutics. To identify compounds with desirable anticancer activities, I have screened the aforementioned chemical library. The screening yielded several hits with substantial efficacy and selectivity against malignant cells. In this thesis, I describe the functional mechanism of VR23, one of the most promising compounds identified from my screening, as it kills cancer cells up to 17 fold more effectively than non-cancer cells. Molecular docking and substrate competition studies revealed that VR23 binds to the β2 peptide of the 20S proteasome catalytic subunit. The IC50 value of VR23 in inhibiting trypsin-like proteasome activity is 1.0 nM. VR23 is also substantially effective in inhibiting chymotrypsin-like proteasome activity (IC50, 50-100 nM). The inhibition of proteasome activity by VR23 led to the accumulation of ubiquitinated cyclin E at centrosomes. This, in turn, induces abnormal centrosome amplification by a de novo centrosome synthesis pathway in cancer cells, but not in non-cancer cells. The presence of multiple centrosomes in single cancer cells results in cell cycle arrest at prometaphase and, eventually, cell death by apoptosis. Thus, VR23 possesses a very desirable property as a safe anticancer drug.