Abstract 2581: Indolequinone mechanism-based inhibitors of quinone reductases: Structural basis for selective inhibition of NQO2 relative to NQO1

Abstract

Abstract There are two quinone reductases that occur in mammalian systems NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1, EC 1.6.99.2) and NRH:quinone oxidoreductase 2 (NQO2, EC 1.10.99.2). NQO1 has been shown to be up-regulated in many types of human solid cancer; whereas NQO2 has been shown to be highly expressed in leukemias. In order to explore their potential as therapeutic targets, we have developed potent and selective mechanism-based inhibitors for both enzymes centered on the indolequinone pharmacophore. Previously, we characterized ES936 (5-methoxy-1,2-dimethyl-3-(4-nitrophenoxy)methylindole-4,7-dione) as an efficient mechanism-based inhibitor of NQO1 and we have now developed a series of indolequinones as mechanism-based inhibitors of NQO2. Substitution of the 5-methoxy group in ES936 with an aminoalkylamino side chain generated potent mechanism-based inhibitors of NQO2 that did not efficiently inhibit NQO1. NQO2 inhibition was observed with compounds with 5’-aminoalkyl chains that varied from 3 to 8 carbons in length, with maximal inhibition observed with compounds that possessed 5’-chain lengths of between 3 to 5 carbons. Compounds with substitutions at the 6-position were not efficient mechanism-based inhibitors of NQO2. As previously observed for a series of NQO1 mechanism-based inhibitors, structural requirements for efficient inhibition of NQO2 also included a substituent at the 3-position capable of leaving to generate a reactive iminium electrophile following enzymatic reduction. Selected indolequinones were tested for NQO2 inhibition using the human leukemia cell line K562 and were found to inhibit NQO2 activity in K562 cells at nanomolar concentrations while not affecting NQO1 activity. Computational-based molecular modeling simulations demonstrated the substantial difference between the active site of NQO1 and NQO2 and ESI-LC/MS provided possible explanations for selective enzyme inhibition. These indolequinones represent the first mechanism based inhibitors of NQO2 to be characterized. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2581. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-2581