Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of cytochrome P450 CYP11A1 inhibitors

This study addresses drug resistance in castration-resistant prostate cancer by developing novel inhibitors of CYP11A1, the key rate-limiting enzyme in androgen synthesis. Based on the clinical candidate Opevesostat, two series of 23 new compounds were designed and synthesized using a 4H-pyran-4-one core to explore structure-activity relationships at the C2 and C6 positions.Compound II-4 exhibited potent inhibitory activity (95.2% at 100 nM; IC₅₀ = 26.7 nM), comparable to Opevesostat (IC₅₀ = 20.4 nM). Importantly, II-4 showed superior selectivity against CYP1A2, 2C9, and 2D6 (2- to 4-fold improvement), attributed to hydrophobic interactions between its C6 methyl group and Ile 84.These results highlight II-4 as a promising lead compound with optimized activity and selectivity, providing valuable insights for overcoming resistance in prostate cancer therapy.