Ring-truncated deguelin derivatives as potent Hypoxia Inducible Factor-1α (HIF-1α) inhibitors

A series of fluorophenyl and pyridine analogues of 1 and 2 were synthesized as ring-truncated deguelin surrogates and evaluated for their HIF-1α inhibition. Their structure-activity relationship was systematically investigated based on the variation of the linker B-region moiety. Among the inhibitors, compound 25 exhibited potent HIF-1α inhibition in a dose-dependent manner and significant antitumor activity in H1299 with less toxicity than deguelin. It also inhibited in vitro hypoxia-mediated angiogenic processes in HRMECs. The docking study indicates that 25 occupied the C-terminal ATP-binding pocket of HSP90 in a similar mode as 1, which implies that the anticancer and antiangiogenic activities of 25 are derived from HIF-1α destabilization by binding to the C-terminal ATP-binding site of hHSP90.