Dual functional small molecule fluorescent probes for image-guided estrogen receptor-specific targeting coupled potent antiproliferative potency for breast cancer therapy

Publication date: Available online 4 May 2017
Source:Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry
Author(s): Lu Yang, Zhiye Hu, Junjie Luo, Chu Tang, Silong Zhang, Wentao Ning, Chune Dong, Jian Huang, Xianjun Liu, Hai-Bing Zhou
A strategy by integrating biological imaging into early stages of the drug discovery process can improve our understanding of drug activity during preclinical and clinical study. In this article, we designed and synthesized coumarin-based nonsteroidal type fluorescence ligands for drug-target binding imaging. Among these synthesized compounds, 3e, 3f and 3h showed potent ER binding affinity and 3e (IC50 = 0.012 μM) exhibited excellent ERα antagonistic activity, its antiproliferative potency in breast cancer MCF-7 cells is equipotent to the approved drug tamoxifen. The fluorescence of compounds 3e and 3f depended on the solvent properties and showed significant changes when mixed with ERα and ERβ in vitro. Furthermore, target molecule 3e could cross the cell membrane, localize and image drug-target interaction in real time without cell washing. Thus, the coumarin-based platform represents a promising new ER-targeted delivery vehicle with potential imaging and therapeutic properties

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