In silico screening for identification of fatty acid synthase inhibitors and evaluation of their antiproliferative activity using human cancer cell lines

Synthesis, in silico and in vitro anti-cancer studies of phosphorylated derivatives of didanosine targeting MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines

A series of new phosphorylated derivatives of didanosine were designed, synthesized and evaluated their anticancer effects on human breast cancer cells. Their binding affinities were evaluated against aromatase enzyme and the molecular docking studies demonstrated that 9a, 9h and 9i exhibited high binding interactions than the parent molecule (ddI) and other derivatives; evaluated the aromatase enzyme inhibition. The cell viability, cell proliferation, lactate dehydrogenase showed potential anti-proliferative in dose dependent manner, these results were well correlated with hoesch stain and DNA fragmentation on MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines. Cytotoxicity results disclosed that tryptophan amino acid ester substituted derivative 9i showed potential cell death against MDA-MB-231 cancer cell lines. Furthermore, compound 9i has great potential significance for further investigations (in vivo).

Classification analysis of fatty acid synthase inhibitors using multialgorithms on topological descriptors and structural fingerprints

Fatty acid synthase (FASN) is one of the enzymes required for fatty acid biosynthesis and is expressed as low or absent in most normal cells/tissues. However, this enzyme is upregulated in various cancer cells; hence, it can act as an important target to design and develop novel FASN inhibitors for cancer therapy. In the present investigation, a series of structurally diverse compounds that possessed FASN inhibitory activities were subjected to classification analysis using different algorithms such as support vector machine, decision tree, Naïve Bayes and random forest. The physicochemical descriptors and MACCS fingerprints were calculated using PaDEL software, and the WEKA software was utilized for the classification model building. The statistical parameters/confusion matrix calculated from the analysis revealed that the selected models have significant predictive performances. The results showed that the topological properties of the molecules are the main determinant for the activity classification. The key descriptors comprised of hydrogen bonding groups, especially acceptor (nHBAcc, minHBint9, minHBint5 and nwHBa), charge on the topological surface of the molecules (JGI10 & GGI2), ionization potential (GATS5i and GATS1i) and branching and distance between the groups (ETA_Eta_B_RC) are significantly contributed in the classification models. Further, the presence of heteroatoms (MACCSFP82, MACCSFP93 and MACCSFP131), especially nitrogen atom(s) and hydrogen bond acceptor groups (N-N group, NC(=O)N, N-C(=O)), actively contributed to the inhibitory activities. The results concluded that the topological polar properties concentrated in a specific region have significant FASN inhibitory activity. Hence, these results shall be used to develop novel molecules with increased FASN inhibitory activity.

Fatty acid synthase as a potential new therapeutic target for cervical cancer

Fatty acid synthase (FASN) is the rate-limiting enzyme for the de novo synthesis of fatty acids in the cytoplasm of tumour cells. Many tumour cells express high levels of FASN, and its expression is associated with a poorer prognosis. Cervical cancer is a major public health problem, representing the fourth most common cancer affecting women worldwide. To date, only a few in silico studies have correlated FASN expression with cervical cancer. This study aimed to investigate in vitro FASN expression in premalignant lesions and cervical cancer samples and the effects of a FASN inhibitor on cervical cancer cells. FASN expression was observed in all cervical cancer samples with increased expression at more advanced cervical cancer stages. The FASN inhibitor (orlistat) reduced the in vitro cell viability of cervical cancer cells (C-33A, ME-180, HeLa and SiHa) in a time-dependent manner and triggered apoptosis. FASN inhibitor also led to cell cycle arrest and autophagy. FASN may be a potential therapeutic target for cervical cancer, and medicinal chemists, pharmaceutical researchers and formulators should consider this finding in the development of new treatment approaches for this cancer type.

Curcumin, novel application in reversing myocardial fibrosis in the treatment for atrial fibrillation from the perspective of transcriptomics in rat model

In order to explore the possible mechanism of curcumin in the treatment of AF, we focused on the myocardial fibrosis in the pathogenesis of atrial fibrillation to explore whether curcumin could play a role in the treatment of AF by reducing myocardial fibrosis.Rats were given daily gavage of saline (control and AF groups) or curcumin (4 mL/kg, concentration: 50 mg/mL, curcumin groups) during days 4-28. The rat model of AF was induced by Ach - CaCl₂, and evaluate the therapeutic effect of curcumin on the duration of AF rhythm, the degree of myocardial fibrosis and the secretion of inflammatory factors in serum. RNA-seq to explore the possible mechanism of curcumin alleviating myocardial fibrosis of AF. curcumin significantly inhibits the duration of AF and reduces the degree of left atrial fibrosis. ELISA results showed curcumin could significantly reduce the secretion of IL-17A, IL-1β, IL -6 and TGF-β1. Bioinformatics analyses revealed that the IL-17 signaling pathway are involved in the therapeutic mechanism of curcumin. Furthermore, The genes encoding Col1a1, Fasn, Pck1, Bmp10, IL33 and Figf were pivotal and possible key genes for the therapeutic mechanisms of curcumin.Curcumin can reduce the degree of left atrial fibrosis of AF and the secretion of inflammatory factors. The therapeutic effect of curcumin on AF was attributed to its effect on the IL-17 signaling pathway. Besides, COL1A1, FASN, PCK1, BMP10, IL33 and FIGF were the pivotal genes associated with mechanisms of action of curcumin on AF.

Review on target domains and natural compound-based inhibitors of fatty acid synthase for anticancer drug discovery

Cancer cells require a higher amount of energy in the form of fatty acids for their uncontrolled proliferation and growth. Fatty acid synthase (FASN) plays a crucial role in the synthesis of palmitate, which is involved in most of the critical malignant pathways. Hence, by targeting FASN, tumour growth can be controlled. By designing and developing FASN inhibitors with catalytic domain specificity, safe and potential anticancer drugs can be achieved. The article draws light towards the catalytic domains of FASN, their active site residues and interaction of some of the reported natural FASN inhibitors (resveratrol, lavandulyl flavonoids, catechins, stilbene derivatives, etc). The rationality (structure-activity relationship) behind the variation in the activity of the reported natural FASN inhibitors (butyrolactones, polyphenolics, galloyl esters and thiolactomycins) has also been covered. Selective, safe and potentially active FASN inhibitors could be developed by: (i) having proper understanding of the function of all catalytic domains of FASN (ii) studying the upstream and downstream FASN regulators (iii) identifying cancer-specific FASN biomarkers (that are non-essential/absent in the normal healthy cells) (iv) exploring the complete protein structure of FASN, e-screening of the compounds prior to synthesis and study their ADME properties (v) predicting the selectivity based on their strong affinity at the catalytic site of FASN.

Virtual screening-based identification of novel fatty acid synthase inhibitor and evaluation of its antiproliferative activity in breast cancer cells

Cancer cells activate de novo lipogenesis by overexpressing the lipogenic enzymes ACLY, ACC and FASN to support rapid cell division. FASN, previously known as oncogenic antigen-519 (OA-519) catalyzes seven sequential reactions to synthesize palmitic acid (C16) from substrates acetyl CoA, and malonyl CoA. The dependence of cancer cells on FASN-derived lipids and the differential expression of FASN in cancer cells compared to their normal counterparts make it an attractive metabolic drug target in cancer therapy. In the present study, an attempt has been made to identify potent FASN inhibitors from Asinex-Synergy compound database using structure-based virtual screening. The serial docking protocols of increasing precisions identified LEG-17649942, with glide score -10.34 kcal/mol as a promising compound which can directly interact with active site residues H293 and H331. LEG-17649942 possesses drug-like pharmacokinetic properties as predicted by Qikprop. LEG-17649942 exhibited cytotoxicity in breast cancer cell lines SK-BR-3, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 with maximum activity against MDA-MB-231 cells with IC50 of 50 μM. The study put forward LEG-17649942 as a novel drug-lead compound against triple negative breast cancer with an exquisite binding pattern to FASN-KS domain.

The Role of Mitochondrial Fat Oxidation in Cancer Cell Proliferation and Survival

Tumors remodel their metabolism to support anabolic processes needed for replication, as well as to survive nutrient scarcity and oxidative stress imposed by their changing environment. In most healthy tissues, the shift from anabolism to catabolism results in decreased glycolysis and elevated fatty acid oxidation (FAO). This change in the nutrient selected for oxidation is regulated by the glucose-fatty acid cycle, also known as the Randle cycle. Briefly, this cycle consists of a decrease in glycolysis caused by increased mitochondrial FAO in muscle as a result of elevated extracellular fatty acid availability. Closing the cycle, increased glycolysis in response to elevated extracellular glucose availability causes a decrease in mitochondrial FAO. This competition between glycolysis and FAO and its relationship with anabolism and catabolism is conserved in some cancers. Accordingly, decreasing glycolysis to lactate, even by diverting pyruvate to mitochondria, can stop proliferation. Moreover, colorectal cancer cells can effectively shift to FAO to survive both glucose restriction and increases in oxidative stress at the expense of decreasing anabolism. However, a subset of B-cell lymphomas and other cancers require a concurrent increase in mitochondrial FAO and glycolysis to support anabolism and proliferation, thus escaping the competing nature of the Randle cycle. How mitochondria are remodeled in these FAO-dependent lymphomas to preferably oxidize fat, while concurrently sustaining high glycolysis and increasing de novo fatty acid synthesis is unclear. Here, we review studies focusing on the role of mitochondrial FAO and mitochondrial-driven lipid synthesis in cancer proliferation and survival, specifically in colorectal cancer and lymphomas. We conclude that a specific metabolic liability of these FAO-dependent cancers could be a unique remodeling of mitochondrial function that licenses elevated FAO concurrent to high glycolysis and fatty acid synthesis. In addition, blocking this mitochondrial remodeling could selectively stop growth of tumors that shifted to mitochondrial FAO to survive oxidative stress and nutrient scarcity.

Fatty acid synthase, a novel poor prognostic factor for acute lymphoblastic leukemia which can be targeted by ginger extract

Altered metabolism of fatty acid synthesis is considered a hallmark characteristic of several malignancies, including acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). To evaluate the impact of fatty acid synthase (FASN) on drug resistant ALL, bone marrow samples were collected from 65 pediatric ALLs, including 40 de novo and 25 relapsed patients. 22 non-cancer individuals were chosen as controls. Quantitative RT-PCR showed increased expression levels of FASN in drug resistant patients compared with the therapy responders. Single and combined treatment of malignant cells were analyzed using Annexin-V/PI double staining and MTT assays. Incubation of resistant primary cells with ginger showed simultaneous increased apoptosis rates and reduced FASN expression levels. Furthermore, docking studies demonstrated high affinity bindings between ginger derivatives and FASN thioesterase and ketosynthase domains, compared with their known inhibitors, fenofibrate and morin, respectively. Finally, combined treatment of in-house multidrug resistant T-ALL subline with ginger and dexamethasone induced drug sensitivity and down regulation of FASN expression, accordingly. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that introduces FASN upregulation as a poor prognostic factor for drug resistant childhood ALL. Moreover, it was revealed that FASN inhibition may be applied by ginger phytochemicals and overcome dexamethasone resistance, subsequently.

Tanshinone IIA inhibits osteosarcoma growth through modulation of AMPK-Nrf2 signaling pathway

Tanshinone IIA (Tan IIA) is a member of the major lipophilic components extracted from the root of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge. Osteosarcomas are primary malignant tumors of bone. The aim of our study is to explore the role of Tan IIA in osteosarcomas survival, migration, and proliferation. MG63 osteosarcoma cell line was cultured in vitro and treated with different concentrations of Tan IIA. Then, ELISA, immunofluorescence, qPCR, western blots, and pathway analysis were conducted to verify whether Tan II modulated osteosarcoma survival, migration, and proliferation through the AMPK/Nrf2 signaling pathway. Our results indicated that Tan IIA dose-dependently inhibited MG63 osteosarcoma cell survival, migration, and proliferation. Mechanistically, Tan IIA reduced cell viability and inhibited the transcriptions of migratory factors. In addition, the number of proliferative MG63 osteosarcoma cell was also reduced by Tan IIA. Molecular investigations demonstrated that Tan IIA treatment caused a drop in the transcriptions and activities of AMPK and Nrf2. Interestingly, knockdown of AMPK and Nrf2 markedly attenuated MG63 osteosarcoma cell survival, migration, and proliferation. Altogether, our results indicate that Tan IIA could be used as an effective anticancer drug to control osteosarcoma proliferation through affecting its survival, migration, and proliferation.

Pyridine derivatives as anticancer lead compounds with Fatty Acid Synthase as the target: An in silico-guided in vitro study

For the past few decades, structure-based drug discovery (SBDD) has become an inevitable technique in the drug development process for screening hit compounds against therapeutic targets. Here, we have successfully used the SBDD approach viz. virtual high-throughput screening to identify potential inhibitors against the Ketoacyl synthase (KS) domain of Fatty acid synthase (FASN). Overexpression of FASN, and subsequent enhancement of de novo lipogenesis is a key survival strategy of cancer cells. Hence, targeting lipid metabolism using FASN inhibitors has been considered as a promising method to induce metabolic stress, thereby posing a survival disadvantage to cancer cells. In the present study, we have successfully identified eight FASN inhibitors from Asinex Elite database by implementing in silico tools. Five of the hit compounds share a common ring structure, which enables characteristic binding interactions with FASN-KS. Among them, in vitro validation showed that SFA 22637550 possesses significant FASN inhibitory activity and antiproliferative effect in human cancer cells of various origins. The maximum sensitivity was exhibited towards HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma cells (IC50 = 28 µM). The mode of cell death was found to be apoptosis with a significant increase in SubG0 population without affecting any other phases of the cell cycle. The current study puts forward an excellent core structure for the development of potent FASN inhibitors for successfully targeting cancer cell metabolism, thereby causing selective cell death.