AUTHOR=Aziz Yasmine M. Abdel , Lotfy Gehad , Said Mohamed M. , El Ashry El Sayed H. , El Tamany El Sayed H. , Soliman Saied M. , Abu-Serie Marwa M. , Teleb Mohamed , Yousuf Sammer , Dömling Alexander , Domingo Luis R. , Barakat Assem TITLE=Design, Synthesis, Chemical and Biochemical Insights Into Novel Hybrid Spirooxindole-Based p53-MDM2 Inhibitors With Potential Bcl2 Signaling Attenuation JOURNAL=Frontiers in Chemistry VOLUME=9 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2021.735236 DOI=10.3389/fchem.2021.735236 ISSN=2296-2646 ABSTRACT=

The tumor resistance to p53 activators posed a clinical challenge. Combination studies disclosed that concomitant administration of Bcl2 inhibitors can sensitize the tumor cells and induce apoptosis. In this study, we utilized a rapid synthetic route to synthesize two novel hybrid spirooxindole-based p53-MDM2 inhibitors endowed with Bcl2 signaling attenuation. The adducts mimic the thematic features of the chemically stable potent spiro [3H-indole-3,2′-pyrrolidin]-2(1H)-ones p53-MDM2 inhibitors, while installing a pyrrole ring via a carbonyl spacer inspired by the natural marine or synthetic products that efficiently inhibit Bcl2 family functions. A chemical insight into the two synthesized spirooxindoles including single crystal x-ray diffraction analysis unambiguously confirmed their structures. The synthesized spirooxindoles 2a and 2b were preliminarily tested for cytotoxic activities against normal cells, MDA-MB 231, HepG-2, and Caco-2 via MTT assay. 2b was superior to 5-fluorouracil. Mechanistically, 2b induced apoptosis-dependent anticancer effect (43%) higher than that of 5-fluorouracil (34.95%) in three studied cancer cell lines, activated p53 (47%), downregulated the Bcl2 gene (1.25-fold), and upregulated p21 (2-fold) in the treated cancer cells. Docking simulations declared the possible binding modes of the synthesized compounds within MDM2.