Discovery of Halogenated Benzothiadiazine Derivatives with Anticancer Activity*

Mitochondrial respiratory complex II (CII), also known as succinate dehydrogenase, plays a critical role in mitochondrial metabolism. Known but low potency CII inhibitors are selectively cytotoxic to cancer cells including the benzothiadiazine-based anti-hypoglycemic diazoxide. Herein, we study the structure-activity relationship of benzothiadiazine derivatives for CII inhibition and their effect on cancer cells for the first time. A 15-fold increase in CII inhibition was achieved over diazoxide, albeit with micromolar IC₅₀ values. Cytotoxicity evaluation of the novel derivatives resulted in the identification of compounds with much greater antineoplastic effect than diazoxide, the most potent of which possesses an IC₅₀ of 2.93±0.07 μM in a cellular model of triple-negative breast cancer, with high selectivity over nonmalignant cells and more than double the potency of the clinical agent 5-fluorouracil. No correlation between cytotoxicity and CII inhibition was found, thus indicating an as-yet-undefined mechanism of action of this scaffold. The derivatives described herein represent valuable hit compounds for therapeutic discovery in triple-negative breast cancer.