Quinacrine is a compound with multiple actions that is commonly used as an anti-protozoal agent. It has also been shown to be a highly potent autophagy inhibitor, although the dose required to achieve this effect is considerably cytotoxic (LD50 = 2.5 μM). Quinacrine analog 34 is a derivative of quinacrine that was designed with an improved cell viability profile (LD50 = 27 μM) to inhibit autophagy. At a minimum concentration of 0.5 μM, this compound has been shown to increase the protein levels of the autophagy biomarker LC3-II and to induce lysosome deacidification.
Protein kinase D (PKD), a serine threonine protein kinase activated by diacylglycerol downstream of PKC signaling, has three human isoforms that modulate cell proliferation, survival, invasion, and protein transport. CRT0066101 acts as an inhibitor of these three PKD isoforms, with IC50 values of 1, 2.5, and 2 nM for PKD1, PKD2, and PKD3, respectively. It demonstrates selectivity for PKD over a range of more than 90 protein kinases, including PKCα, PKBα, MEK, ERK, c-Raf, c-Src, and c-Abl. This specificity allows CRT0066101 to inhibit cell proliferation, induce apoptosis, and notably reduce the viability of pancreatic cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo.
YW3-56 is an inhibitor of protein arginine deiminase 2 (PAD2) and PAD4 (IC50s = 0.5-1 and 1-5 μM, respectively).1It inhibits the growth of U2OS osteosarcoma cells (IC50= ~2.5 μM) in a p53-dependent mannerviainduction of SESN2 and subsequent inhibition of mTORC1. YW3-56 (10 mg kg) reduces tumor growth in an S-180 murine sarcoma tumor model. It also inhibits tumor growth in the 1883 MDA-MB-231 breast cancer bone metastasis mouse xenograft model.2 1.Wang, Y., Li, P., Wang, S., et al.Anticancer peptidylarginine deiminase (PAD) inhibitors regulate the autophagy flux and the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 activityThe Journal of Biological Chemisty287(31)25941-25952(2012) 2.Wang, S., Chen, X.A., Hu, J., et al.ATF4 gene network mediates cellular response to the anticancer PAD inhibitor YW3-56 in triple-negative breast cancer cellsMol. Cancer Ther.14(4)877-888(2015)
Blapsin B is a potent 14-3-3 inhibitor. Blapsin B is a naturally occurring compound isolated from the ethanol extract of the stink beetle, Blaps japanensis. Blapsin B potently inhibited 14-3-3 protein-protein interactions (PPIs) with IC(50) value of 10.0 μM as determined by an ELISA assay, and 2.5 μM in an FP assay, respectively. Blapsin B represent the first example of natural small-molecule 14-3-3 inhibitors.
CC260 is a selective PI5P4Kα and PI5P4Kβ inhibitor with Kis of 40 nM and 30 nM, respectively. CC260 does not inhibit or weakly inhibits other protein kinases, such as Plk1 and RSK2. CC260 can be used for cell energy metabolism, diabetes and cancer research[1]. In cultured C2C12 myotubes, CC260 (20 μM) enhances Insulin-induced Akt phosphorylation at both Thr-308 and Ser-473 but suppresses S6K phosphorylation (Thr-389) by mTORC1[1]. CC260 (2.5 μM, 5 μM, 10 μM, 20 μM) significantly increases phosphorylation of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) in a dose-dependent manner[1]. CC260 treatment reduces the ability of BT474 cells to survive serum starvation, which could be rescued by expressing the PI5P4Kβ refractory mutant[1]. In BT474 cells, CC260 treatment causes an increase in glycolytic ATP production[1]. [1]. Song Chen, et al. Pharmacological inhibition of PI5P4Kα β disrupts cell energy metabolism and selectively kills p53- tumor cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021 May 25;118(21):e2002486118.
2-Chloroadenosine 5-triphosphate (2-chloro ATP), an analog of ATP and adenine nucleotide, functions as an antagonist of the purinergic P2Y1 receptor, inhibiting ADP-induced intracellular calcium mobilization in Jurkat cells with a Ki value of 2.3 µM. Additionally, 2-chloro ATP acts as an agonist of purinergic P2X receptors, demonstrated by inducing inward currents in HEK293 cells expressing either human bladder smooth muscle or rat PC12 receptor forms, with EC50 values of 0.5 and 2.5 µM, respectively. It also triggers relaxation in precontracted isolated guinea pig taenia caeci strips in a concentration-dependent fashion. Furthermore, 2-chloro ATP has been employed in research to investigate the substrate specificity of cyclic nucleotide-dependent protein kinases, including protein kinase A (PKA) and PKG.
TW9 is a dual inhibitor of bromodomain 2 (BD2) in bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4) and histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1; IC50s = 0.074 and 0.29 μM, respectively).1It is selective for BD2 over BD1 in BRD4 (IC50= 0.72 μM) and for HDAC1 over HDAC2 (IC50= 2.5 μM). TW9 (50 nM) induces apoptosis in, and inhibits proliferation of, MIA PaCa-2 pancreatic cancer cells. It induces cell cycle arrest at the G1phase in HPAC pancreatic cancer cells when used at a concentration of 2 μM. TW9 acts synergistically with gemcitabine to reduce the viability of HPAC cells. 1.Zhang, X., Zegar, T., Weiser, T., et al.Characterization of a dual BET HDAC inhibitor for treatment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomaInt. J. Cancer147(10)2847-2861(2020)