skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Structure-Based Optimization of a Novel Class of Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 1A (ALDH1A) Subfamily-Selective Inhibitors as Potential Adjuncts to Ovarian Cancer Chemotherapy

Journal Article · · Journal of Medicinal Chemistry
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [3];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [4];  [3]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
  2. Univ. of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA (United States); Magee Womens Research Inst., Pittsburgh, PA (United States)
  3. Indiana Univ. School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN (United States)
  4. Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); Univ. of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA (United States); Magee Womens Research Inst., Pittsburgh, PA (United States)

Aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity is commonly used as a marker to identify cancer stem-like cells. The three ALDH1A isoforms have all been individually implicated in cancer stem-like cells and in chemoresistance; however, which isoform is preferentially expressed varies between cell lines. In this work, we sought to explore the structural determinants of ALDH1A isoform selectivity in a series of small-molecule inhibitors in support of research into the role of ALDH1A in cancer stem cells. An SAR campaign guided by a cocrystal structure of the HTS hit CM39 (7) with ALDH1A1 afforded first-in-class inhibitors of the ALDH1A subfamily with excellent selectivity over the homologous ALDH2 isoform. We also discovered the first reported modestly selective single isoform 1A2 and 1A3 inhibitors. Two compounds, 13g and 13h, depleted the CD133+ putative cancer stem cell pool, synergized with cisplatin, and achieved efficacious concentrations in vivo following IP administration. Compound 13h additionally synergized with cisplatin in a patient-derived ovarian cancer spheroid model.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); Center for the Discovery of New Medicines; Michigan Ovarian Cancer Alliance; Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer; USDOD
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357; W81XWH-13-1-0134
OSTI ID:
1484792
Journal Information:
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, Vol. 61, Issue 19; ISSN 0022-2623
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
ENGLISH
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 37 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (69)

Phase III Trial of Carboplatin and Paclitaxel Compared With Cisplatin and Paclitaxel in Patients With Optimally Resected Stage III Ovarian Cancer: A Gynecologic Oncology Group Study journal September 2003
First-Line Therapy in Ovarian Cancer Trials journal April 2011
Cancer of the Ovary journal December 2004
Targeting Aldehyde Dehydrogenase Cancer Stem Cells in Ovarian Cancer journal October 2010
Stem Cell Pathways Contribute to Clinical Chemoresistance in Ovarian Cancer journal December 2011
Aldehyde Dehydrogenase in Combination with CD133 Defines Angiogenic Ovarian Cancer Stem Cells That Portend Poor Patient Survival journal April 2011
Identifying an ovarian cancer cell hierarchy regulated by bone morphogenetic protein 2 journal November 2015
Therapeutic strategies targeting cancer stem cells journal October 2015
Expression of aldehyde dehydrogenase and CD133 defines ovarian cancer stem cells journal April 2011
Distinct Expression Levels and Patterns of Stem Cell Marker, Aldehyde Dehydrogenase Isoform 1 (ALDH1), in Human Epithelial Cancers journal April 2010
Targeting aberrant expression of Notch-1 in ALDH + cancer stem cells in breast cancer: TARGETING ABERRANT EXPRESSION OF NOTCH-1 journal November 2016
Aldehyde Dehydrogenase Inhibitors: a Comprehensive Review of the Pharmacology, Mechanism of Action, Substrate Specificity, and Clinical Application journal April 2012
Aldehyde dehydrogenases and cancer stem cells journal December 2015
Aldehyde dehydrogenases in cancer: an opportunity for biomarker and drug development? journal December 2014
ALDH isozymes downregulation affects cell growth, cell motility and gene expression in lung cancer cells journal January 2008
ALDH1A Isozymes are Markers of Human Melanoma Stem Cells and Potential Therapeutic Targets: ALDH + Cancer Stem Cells in Human Melanoma journal September 2012
ALDH Maintains the Stemness of Lung Adenoma Stem Cells by Suppressing the Notch/CDK2/CCNE Pathway journal March 2014
Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A1 confers intrinsic and acquired resistance to gemcitabine in human pancreatic adenocarcinoma MIA PaCa-2 cells journal June 2012
β-Catenin-regulated ALDH1A1 is a target in ovarian cancer spheroids journal June 2014
BET Inhibitors Suppress ALDH Activity by Targeting ALDH1A1 Super-Enhancer in Ovarian Cancer journal October 2016
ALDH1A3, the Major Aldehyde Dehydrogenase Isoform in Human Cholangiocarcinoma Cells, Affects Prognosis and Gemcitabine Resistance in Cholangiocarcinoma Patients journal April 2016
Cisplatin-resistant cells in malignant pleural mesothelioma cell lines show ALDHhighCD44+ phenotype and sphere-forming capacity journal April 2014
Characterization of aldehyde dehydrogenase isozymes in ovarian cancer tissues and sphere cultures journal August 2012
Rethinking ovarian cancer II: reducing mortality from high-grade serous ovarian cancer journal October 2015
Correction: A High-Content Assay Enables the Automated Screening and Identification of Small Molecules with Specific ALDH1A1-Inhibitory Activity journal May 2018
N,N-diethylaminobenzaldehyde (DEAB) as a substrate and mechanism-based inhibitor for human ALDH isoenzymes journal June 2015
Inhibition of aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity reduces chemotherapy and radiation resistance of stem-like ALDHhiCD44+ human breast cancer cells journal August 2011
Cytotoxic effect of disulfiram/copper on human glioblastoma cell lines and ALDH-positive cancer-stem-like cells journal October 2012
A Phase IIb Trial Assessing the Addition of Disulfiram to Chemotherapy for the Treatment of Metastatic Non‐Small Cell Lung Cancer journal March 2015
Alcohol-abuse drug disulfiram targets cancer via p97 segregase adaptor NPL4 journal December 2017
Importance of ALDH1A enzymes in determining human testicular retinoic acid concentrations journal February 2015
Chemically induced congenital thymic dysgenesis in the rat: A model of the digeorge syndrome journal July 1983
Development of a high-throughput in vitro assay to identify selective inhibitors for human ALDH1A1 journal June 2015
Characterization of Two Distinct Structural Classes of Selective Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 1A1 Inhibitors journal February 2015
Discovery of NCT-501, a Potent and Selective Theophylline-Based Inhibitor of Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 1A1 (ALDH1A1) journal July 2015
Discovery of Orally Bioavailable, Quinoline-Based Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 1A1 (ALDH1A1) Inhibitors with Potent Cellular Activity journal May 2018
Potential of alkyl orthoformates as alkylating agents of non-electron rich nitrogen heterocycles journal July 1995
Molecular Iodine Mediated Preparation of Isothiocyanates from Dithiocarbamic Acid Salts journal February 2009
Identification of FAP locus genes from chromosome 5q21 journal August 1991
Structural Basis of ALDH1A2 Inhibition by Irreversible and Reversible Small Molecule Inhibitors journal December 2017
Ovarian Cancer Cell Line Panel (OCCP): Clinical Importance of In Vitro Morphological Subtypes journal September 2014
Prior knowledge transfer across transcriptional data sets and technologies using compositional statistics yields new mislabelled ovarian cell line journal June 2016
A more efficient method to generate integration-free human iPS cells journal April 2011
CD24 promotes tumor cell invasion by suppressing tissue factor pathway inhibitor-2 (TFPI-2) in a c-Src-dependent fashion journal October 2011
Colorectal Cancer Stem Cells Are Enriched in Xenogeneic Tumors Following Chemotherapy journal June 2008
Microfluidic Device for Single-Cell Analysis journal July 2003
A STAT3-NFkB/DDIT3/CEBPβ axis modulates ALDH1A3 expression in chemoresistant cell subpopulations journal March 2015
Down-regulation of ALDH1A3, CD44 or MDR1 sensitizes resistant cancer cells to FAK autophosphorylation inhibitor Y15 journal February 2015
The Cancer Stem Cell Marker Aldehyde Dehydrogenase Is Required to Maintain a Drug-Tolerant Tumor Cell Subpopulation journal May 2014
Quantitative analysis of dose-effect relationships: the combined effects of multiple drugs or enzyme inhibitors journal January 1984
Formation of stable small cell number three-dimensional ovarian cancer spheroids using hanging drop arrays for preclinical drug sensitivity assays journal July 2015
Multicellular spheroids in ovarian cancer metastases: Biology and pathology journal April 2009
Personalized Medicine–Based Approach to Model Patterns of Chemoresistance and Tumor Recurrence Using Ovarian Cancer Stem Cell Spheroids journal August 2017
[20] Processing of X-ray diffraction data collected in oscillation mode book January 1997
Optimal description of a protein structure in terms of multiple groups undergoing TLS motion journal March 2006
A molecular viewer for the analysis of TLS rigid-body motion in macromolecules journal March 2005
Multiple Conformations of NAD and NADH When Bound to Human Cytosolic and Mitochondrial Aldehyde Dehydrogenase journal June 2002
Discovery of novel regulators of aldehyde dehydrogenase isoenzymes journal May 2011
Development of Selective Inhibitors for Human Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 3A1 (ALDH3A1) for the Enhancement of Cyclophosphamide Cytotoxicity journal February 2014
Inhibition of the Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 1/2 Family by Psoralen and Coumarin Derivatives journal February 2017
Comparative analysis of tumor spheroid generation techniques for differential in vitro drug toxicity journal February 2016
SWISS-MODEL: modelling protein tertiary and quaternary structure using evolutionary information journal April 2014
The SWISS-MODEL workspace: a web-based environment for protein structure homology modelling journal November 2005
Toward the estimation of the absolute quality of individual protein structure models journal December 2010
Pax: A murine multigene family of paired box-containing genes journal October 1991
PROCHECK: a program to check the stereochemical quality of protein structures journal April 1993
FRED and HYBRID docking performance on standardized datasets journal June 2012
Conformer Generation with OMEGA: Algorithm and Validation Using High Quality Structures from the Protein Databank and Cambridge Structural Database journal March 2010
Cancer of the Ovary journal November 1993

Cited By (6)

A Novel ALDH1A1 Inhibitor Targets Cells with Stem Cell Characteristics in Ovarian Cancer journal April 2019
Ovarian Cancer Stem Cells: Role in Metastasis and Opportunity for Therapeutic Targeting journal July 2019
Disulfiram’s anti-cancer activity reflects targeting NPL4, not inhibition of aldehyde dehydrogenase journal August 2019
Drug metabolizing enzymes-associated chemo resistance and strategies to overcome it journal April 2019
Aldehyde Dehydrogenases: Not Just Markers, but Functional Regulators of Stem Cells journal January 2019
An evolving paradigm of cancer stem cell hierarchies: therapeutic implications journal January 2020

Similar Records

Characterization of Two Distinct Structural Classes of Selective Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 1A1 Inhibitors
Journal Article · Thu Jan 29 00:00:00 EST 2015 · Journal of Medicinal Chemistry · OSTI ID:1484792

STAT3 signaling pathway is necessary for cell survival and tumorsphere forming capacity in ALDH{sup +}/CD133{sup +} stem cell-like human colon cancer cells
Journal Article · Fri Dec 16 00:00:00 EST 2011 · Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications · OSTI ID:1484792

The usefulness of three-dimensional cell culture in induction of cancer stem cells from esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cell lines
Journal Article · Fri May 17 00:00:00 EDT 2013 · Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications · OSTI ID:1484792