Abstract 1239: Structure activity relationship of alexidine analogs for the inhibition of collective invasion

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the US with an overall 5-year survival of only 15-20%. Metastatic disease is a major contributor to poor survival and novel therapeutics that can selectively target invasive tumor cell populations are lacking. Metabolic reprogramming contributes to tumor progression with effective therapies targeting cancer metabolism available. However, it remains unclear whether targeting cancer metabolism will prove valuable in inhibiting invasive cancer populations. Recent studies have demonstrated anticancer activity by the mitochondria-targeting bioactive small molecule alexidine dihydrochloride. Our group has previously found that alexidine specifically inhibits the a highly invasive subpopulation of H1299 previous identified in our lab by decoupling and decreasing collective invasion. Here we report the structure activity relationship (SAR) between analogs of alexidine on the inhibition of collective invasion in NSCLC cell lines. For these studies, we utilized an in vitro 3D invasion model where NSCLC cell lines were allowed to form spheroids, and then were embedded into Matrigel and allowed to invade over 48h in the presence or absence of the analogs. Using this technique, we identified two novel alexidine analogs with improved efficacy at inhibiting the invasion of H1299 NSCLC cells. Additionally, we examined the phosphorylation of pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH), the gatekeeper for the entrance of pyruvate into the TCA cycle, following treatment with the alexidine analogs. We observed a significant correlation between PDH phosphorylation and inhibition of invasion following treatment with the analogs. In conclusion, we have identified two novel alexidine analogs with improved inhibition of invasion in NSCLC cell lines in an in vitro model. Citation Format: Jamie Arnst, Rachel Commander, Adam Marcus. Structure activity relationship of alexidine analogs for the inhibition of collective invasion [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1239.