Phenylmethylene hydantoins as prostate cancer invasion and migration inhibitors. CoMFA approach and QSAR analysis

Prostrate cancer constitutes the second leading cause of cancer deaths in men in United States. In the process of discovery of new antiproliferative and anti-metastatic agents against prostate cancer, marine-derived phenylmethylene hydantoin (PMH) derivatives were identified with activity level range between 50 and 200 μM. 3D-QSAR CoMFA model was used in virtual screening of commercially available derivatives of PMH. PMH derivatives with manifold increase in anti-migratory and anti-invasive activities were discovered using wound-healing and Cultrex invasion assays. Benzene ring replacement with other heterocyclic rings did not significantly improve the methylene hydantoins activities. Multivariate analysis performed on the whole series of methylene hydantoins, which further supported the findings of CoMFA model. Predictive QSAR model with conventional r(2) and cross-validated coefficient (q(2)) values up to 0.982 and 0.803 were established. The molecular volume (MV) and the logP were identified as critical parameters for methylene hydatoins migration inhibitory activity. PMH is a novel anti-metastatic lead class with potential therapeutic activity against prostate cancer.