Design and synthesis of new energy restriction mimetic agents: Potent anti-tumor activities of hybrid motifs of aminothiazoles and coumarins

The incidence of obesity-related diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and different types of cancers shed light on the importance of dietary control as preventive and treatment measures. However, long-term dietary control is challenging to achieve in most individuals. The use of energy restriction mimetic agents (ERMAs) as an alternative approach to affect the energy machinery of cancer cells has emerged as a promising approach for cancer therapy. ERMAs limit the high need for energy in rapidly growing tumor cells, with their survival rate strongly dependent on the robust availability of energy. In this context, initial phenotypic screening of an in-house pilot compound library identified a new class of aminothiazole anchored on coumarin scaffold as potent anticancer lead drug candidates with potential activity as ERMA. The identified chemotypes were able to inhibit glucose uptake and increase ROS content in cancer cells. Compounds 9b, 9c, 9i, 11b, and 11c were highly active against colorectal cancer cell lines, HCT116 and HT-29, with half-maximal inhibitory concertation (IC50) range from 0.25 to 0.38 µM. Further biological evaluations of 9b and 9f using Western blotting, caspase activity, glucose uptake, ROS production, and NADPH/NADP levels revealed the ability of these lead drug candidates to induce cancer cell death via, at least in part, energy restriction. Moreover, the assessment of 9b and 9f synergistic activity with cisplatin showed promising outcomes. The current work highlights the significant potential of the lead compounds, 9b, and 9f as potential anticancer agents via targeting the cellular energy machinery in cancer cells.