The pawhuskins and schweinfurthins are two classes of stilbene natural product compounds that exhibit interesting biological activity, and because of this they have been studied extensively in our lab through synthetic means. The pawhuskins are a class of small molecule non-nitrogenous opioid receptor modulators that differ significantly in structure from the classical opioid receptor ligands. Some of the natural schweinfurnthins show strong and differential antiproliferative behavior towards a variety of human cancer cell lines. Prior to this research, a significant structure-activity relationship study conducted in our lab has produced a large library of analogues of both classes of compounds. The most potent of theses analogues have served as lead compounds in this study where the stilbene motif present in both classes was substituted with either an amide or triazole linkage. For the new pawhuskin analogues, three of the amide isomers and a triazole isomer synthesized showed antagonist activity for the opioid growth factor (OGF)/opioid growth factor receptor (OGFR) axis which is involved in cellular and organ growth control. This cellular signaling mechanism is targeted by “low-dose” naltrexone therapy which is being tested clinically for multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, cancer, and wound healing disorders. The compounds described here are the first selective small molecule ligands for the OGF/OGFR system and will serve as important leads and probes for further study. For the new schweinfurthins analogues, all compounds synthesized retained antiproliferative activity against similar cancer cell lines to that of the natural compounds. The new amide analogues were produced in pairs only differing in the orientation of the amide linkage replacement for the stilbene motif. Signifigantly greater activity was seen for one orientation of the amide over the other. The synthetic efforts towards all of these analogues will be described herein along with their intriguing biological properties.

Schweinfurthins are a family of natural products with significant anti-cancer activities. They were originally identified in the National Cancer Institute (NCI) human 60 cancer cell line screening. The growth inhibition profile of schweinfurthins is distinct from other clinically used anti-cancer agents, indicating that they have a novel mechanism of action or have a previously unrecognized protein target. Previous studies showed that schweinfurthins affect multiple cellular processes in cancer cells. For example, schweinfurthins can alter cytoskeleton organization, induce ER stress and apoptosis, and inhibit the mevalonate pathway. The mevalonate pathway is responsible for the production of isoprenoids and cholesterol, which have been shown to play regulatory roles in the Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway. In this study, we found that the Hh signaling pathway in NIH-3T3 and SF-295 cells was inhibited by schweinfurthins. The supplementation of mevalonate and cholesterol partially restored Hh signaling, indicating that schweinfurthins inhibit Hh signaling partially by down-regulating the products from the mevalonate pathway. Interestingly, schweinfurthins in combination with cyclopamine, an inhibitor of the Hh singaling pathway, synergistically decreased cell viability. In order to better understand the underlying mechanism of the anti-cancer action of schweinfurthins, we attempted to identify the protein target of schweifnurthins. Affinity chromatography was performed to pull down the protein target. We found that schweinfurhtins bound to the M2 isoform of pyruvate kinase (PKM2) and inhibit its pyruvate kinase activity. Knockdown of PKM2 by siRNA increased the sensitivity of SF-295 cells to schweinfurthins. The inhibition of PKM2 by schweinfurthins led to a reduction in the rate of glycolysis in cancer cells. Fructose 1,6-bisphosphate (FBP), an activator of PKM2, could alleviate schweinfurthin-mediated inhibition on PKM2 and glycolysis. Notably, FBP could also partially reverse the reduction of cell viability in the presence of schweinfurthins. Taken together, these studies revealed the mechanism by which schweinfurthins inhibit Hh signaling. In addition, we uncovered PKM2 as a schwienfurthin target and highlighted the importance of glycolysis suppression as a mechanism of the anti-cancer action of schweinfurthins.

Des études phytochimiques dediverses espèces du genre Macaranga ontconduit à la découverte d’une familleintéressante de stilbènes prénylés nommésschweinfurthines (SWs). Le NCI (NationalCancer Institute) a évalué l’activité cytotoxiquede ces composés sur un panel de 60 lignéescellulaires cancéreuses : ces composésprésentent de très bonnes activités cytotoxiquessur certaines de ces lignées. De plus, leur profild’activité original suggère que ces composésagissent selon un nouveau mécanisme d’action,encore inconnu. Ainsi, ce projet de thèse a pourbut d’éclaircir ce mécanisme par identificationdes protéines cibles ainsi que des voies designalisations impliquées. Pour cela l’obtentiond’une grande quantité de SWs était nécessaire.Dans un premier temps, l'espèce vietnamienneMacaranga tanarius a été sélectionnée par uneapproche utilisant les réseaux moléculaires. Sonétude phytochimique a conduit à l’isolement denouveaux analogues et de SWs d’intérêt àl'échelle du gramme, permettant de réaliser dansun second temps des modifications chimiquesciblées. Une fonction alcyne a, par exemple, étéintroduite sur la SW G sans altérer son profild’activité. La présence de cette fonction aensuite permis le couplage de la SW avec unfluorophore et une biotine par chimie click incellulo. Des études de localisation intracellulaireet d’identification d’un partenaire protéique ontensuite été réalisées. En parallèle de ces travaux,l’interaction entre les SWs et la protéine OSBP(Oxysterol-binding protein), décrite commeétant une cible potentielle des SWs a égalementété investiguée. / Phytochemical studies fromMacaranga species led to the discovery of aninteresting family of prenylated stilbenesnamed schweinfurthins (SWs). The NCI(National Cancer Institute) evaluated thesemolecules on a panel of 60 human cancer cells:studying these molecules is of great interestbecause they display promisingantiproliferative activities for specific tumorderivedcell lines. Furthermore, theiruncommon activity profile suggests that itimplements a new mechanism of action. Ourproject aims to decipher this mechanism byfinding the targeted protein(s) and thesignalling pathway involved. For that purpose,a large amount of these natural stilbenes wasrequired. First, a vietnamese plant has beenselected using molecular networking approachto ensure the presence of these molecules.Then, a phytochemical study on a large scaleled to the isolation of the compounds of interest(several grams) and new analogues. An alkynemoiety has been introduced on one of thesemolecules by a selective chemical modificationwithout any loss of the specific cytotoxicprofile. This alkyne function allowed the incellulo click reaction between a fluorescentprobe or a biotin. Thus, studies of intracellularlocalization and protein identification havebeen achieved. Concurrently, interactionbetween SWs and Oxysterol-binding protein(OSBP), a previously described target of thesecompounds, has been studied.