Synthesis and biological evaluation of thiazole derivatives as novel USP7 inhibitors

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/j.bmcl.2017.01.018

Herpesvirus-associated Ubiquitin-Specific Protease (HAUSP, also called USP7) interacts with and stabilizes Mdm2, and represents one of the first examples that deubiquitinases oncogenic proteins. USP7 has been regarded as a potential drug target for cancer therapy. Inhibitors of USP7 have been recently shown to suppress tumor cell growth in vitro and in vivo. Based on leading USP7 inhibitors P5091 and P22077, we designed and synthesized a series of thiazole derivatives. The results of in vitro assays showed that the thiazole compounds exhibited low micromolar inhibition activity against both USP7 enzyme and cancer cell lines. The compounds induced cell death in a p53-dependent and p53-independent manner. Taken together, this study may provide thiazole compounds as a new class of USP7 inhibitors.

Full text of DOI:10.1016/j.bmcl.2017.01.018

Accepted Manuscript
Synthesis and biological evaluation of thiazole derivatives as novel USP7 in-
hibitors
Chao Chen, Jiemei Song, Jinzheng Wang, Chang Xu, Caiping Chen, Wei Gu,
Hongbin Sun, Xiaoan Wen
PII:
S0960-894X(17)30030-6
DOI:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bmcl.2017.01.018
BMCL 24594
Reference:
Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters
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Received Date:
Revised Date:
Accepted Date:
9 September 2016
2 January 2017
9 January 2017
Please cite this article as: Chen, C., Song, J., Wang, J., Xu, C., Chen, C., Gu, W., Sun, H., Wen, X., Synthesis and
biological evaluation of thiazole derivatives as novel USP7 inhibitors, Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters
(2017), doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bmcl.2017.01.018
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Synthesis and biological evaluation of thiazole derivatives as novel USP7
inhibitors
Chao Chen†,a,b, Jiemei Song†,a,b, Jinzheng Wang†a,b, Chang Xua,b, Caiping Chena,b, Wei Guc, Hongbin Sun*,a,b
and XiaoanWen*,a,b
a Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Drug Discovery for Metabolic Disease State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, China
Pharmaceutical University, 24 Tongjia Xiang, Nanjing 210009, China
b State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University, 24 Tongjia Xiang, Nanjing 210009, China
c Institute for Cancer Genetics, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
E-mail: hongbinsun@ cpu.edu.cn; wxagj@126.com
†These authors contributed equally to this work.
ARTICLE INFO
ABSTRACT
Article history:
Herpesvirus-associated Ubiquitin-Specific Protease (HAUSP, also called USP7)
interacts with and stabilizes Mdm2, and represents one of the first examples that
deubiquitinases oncogenic proteins. USP7 has been regarded as a potential drug
target for cancer therapy. Inhibitors of USP7 have been recently shown to
suppress tumor cell growth in vitro and in vivo. Based on leading USP7
inhibitors P5091 and P22077, we designed and synthesized a series of thiazole
derivatives. The results of in vitro assays showed that the thiazole compounds
exhibited low micromolar inhibition activity against both USP7 enzyme and
cancer cell lines. The compounds induced cell death in a p53-dependent and
p53-independent manner. Taken together, this study may provide thiazole
compounds as a new class of USP7 inhibitors.
Keywords:
USP7 inhibitor
Thiazole derivatives
human colon cancer
.
GR A PH I C A L AB ST R AC T

1
The p53 tumor suppressor is a short-lived protein that is maintained at low levels in normal cells. Tight
regulation of p53 pathway signal is essential for its effect on tumorigenesis as well as maintaining normal
cell growth. It is well accepted that Mdm2, a major E3 ubiquitin ligase for p53, is a major negative regulator
of p53. Unusually activated Mdm2 could counteract the tumor suppressor function of p53 through promoting
both degradation and degradation-independent effects on p531.
Targeting Mdm2 is a validated approach to restoration of p53 function for cancer therapy. Nevertheless,
there exist some limitations for Mdm2 inhibitors such as Nutlin-3. For example, although Nutlin-3 can
effectively block the interaction of Mdm2 and p53, Nutlin-3 cannot decrease the level of Mdm2 protein. In
fact, it increases the expression of Mdm2 mRNA through the p53-Mdm2 positive feedback loop and protects
Mdm2 from degradation, thus leading to a rapid rebound of cancer cell growth upon temporary removal of
the inhibitor2.
Owing to the success of the proteasomal inhibitor Bortezomib in treating multiple myeloma, targeting the
ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) has become one of the most concerned strategies in anti-cancer therapies
in the past decade. Herpesvirus-associated Ubiquitin-Specific Protease (HAUSP, also called USP7)
interacting with the p53/Mdm2 complex was one of the first examples that deubiquitinases (DUBs) exhibited
a specific role in regulating the stability of oncogene protein Mdm2 3, 4. These studies demonstrate that
inactivation of USP7 induces Mdm2 degradation thus allowing for activation of p53 in tumor cells
expressing wild-type p53. In fact, several small-molecule inhibitors of USP7 have been recently shown to
activate p53 by down-regulating Mdm2 activities without inducing genotoxic stress5, 6, 7, 8. More importantly,
in xenograft mouse models, USP7 inhibitors were well tolerated and effectively suppressed tumor growth in
vivo6.
Biochemical and tissue culture studies showed that thiophene compounds P5091 and P22077 (Figure 1)
exhibited specific and selective inhibitory activity against USP77. Recently, we found that P22077
significantly suppressed the growth of MYCN-amplified human neuroblastoma cell lines in xenograft mouse
models9. However, the currently leading small-molecule inhibitors of USP7 such as P22077 have several
issues. For example, the solubility of these compounds is poor and the potency of the USP7 inhibition is not
very high. Besides, the toxicity of the compounds at relatively higher doses to achieve significant efficacy
was observed in in vivo studies. Therefore, novel USP7 inhibitors with higher potency and safety are highly
desirable. By analyzing the structure-activity relationship of P5091and P22077 derivatives reported by
Weinstock J et al10, it was reasoned that electron-withdrawing substituents on thiophene would beneficial for
the anti-USP7 activity. Thiazole could be regarded as a bioisosteric structure of thiophene with decreased
electron density. In this study, a series of thiazole derivatives C1-C21 (Figure 1) were designed and
synthesized based on P5091 and P22077 as the lead compounds. We present the synthesis, USP7 inhibition
and anti-proliferation activities of these compounds.
Figure 1. Design of thiazole derivatives as USP7 inhibitors.
The key intermediate 1-(5-chlorothiazol-2-yl)ethanone 4 was prepared from commercially available
2-acetylthiazole over three steps (acetal protection, chlorination and protecting group removal). Treatment of
4 using corresponding thiophenols in the presence of sodium methoxide provided the 4-nonsubstituted
thiazole derivatives C1 and C2. Nitration of compounds 4 was carried out under nitric acid condition to

2
afford nitro thiazole 5. According to the same procedure for C1 and C2, the target compounds C3-C10, C21
were obtained from the reaction of the corresponding thiophenols with 5. Subsequently, compounds
C11-C14 were prepared via reduction and subsequent acylation of C7. Reductive amination of C7 afforded
compound C15. The general route to the thiazole-2-carboxamide derivatives starts with the brominating of
2-bromothiazole 6 to give 2, 5-dibromothiazole 7. Nitration of 7 with nitric acid provided nitro thiazole 8
which was used for further modification by nucleophilic substitution reaction with
3,5-dichloropyridine-4-thiol to afford compound 9, whose structure was confirmed by the X-ray
crystallography (Figure 2). Compound 9 was treated with cuprous cyanide at high temperature up to 120 oC
to afford the thiazole-2-carboxamide derivative 10, followed by hydrolysis reaction with nitrous acid to give
carboxylic acid 11, which was extremely unstable due to decarboxylation. However, decarboxylation of 11
could be avoided by hydrolysis reaction at low temperature. The target compounds C16-C20 were obtained
by the amidation reaction of 11 with amines in the presence of phosphorus oxychloride.
Scheme 1. Reagent and conditions: a) CH(OCH3)3, TsOH, CH3OH; b) n-BuLi, CCl4, THF; c) HCl,
CH3COCH3; d) TFAH, fuming HNO3; e) NaOCH3, CH3OH; f) NaOCH3, CH3OH, 55°C; g) NaBH4, CH3OH;
h) (R2CO)2O,DMAP, CH2Cl2; i) HOAc, R3NH2,CH2Cl2, NaBH3CN; j) Br2, HBr (20%), 100°C; k) TFAH,
fuming HNO3, -20°C; l) MeONa, MeOH, 40°C; m) CuCN, KI, DMF, 120 °C; n) NaNO2, 65% H2SO4; o)
R4NH2，POCl3, DIEA, MeCN.
Figure 2. ORTEP representation of compound 9.

3
Enzymatic assay. A summary of the inhibitory effect of compounds C1-C21 against USP7 in enzyme
based assay is listed in Table 1. As a positive control, P22077 showed moderate activity (IC50=19.33M) in
this assay. To our delight, the thiazole compounds showed definite improvement on inhibitory activity in
comparison with the thiophene class of USP7 inhibitors. It was found that 4-nitro group was indispensable
since analogues of these compounds with the 4-nitro group replaced by hydrogen were almost inactive (C1,
C2). The substitution of an electron-withdrawing group (e.g. 2-acetyl) at the 2-position of thiazole seemed to
be critical for the potency (C6, C7), since 2-alkyl substitution resulted in significant loss of potency (C11,
C12). Like 2-acetyl compounds (C6, C7), N-benzyl substituted 2-amide compounds were also potent
inhibitors, especially when the phenyl ring was substituted with fluorine atom, (e.g. C19, IC50=1.35M).
5-Aryl thio substitution also had a significant impact on potency (C4 vs C10), and 3, 5-dichloropyridin-4-yl
was considered as a beneficial group which is consist with the finding of Weinstock J. et al10. Within this
series of compounds, C7 and C19 are the most potent compounds with IC50 0.67M and 1.35M,
respectively. Compound C21 (IC50=6.12 M) is more potent than its parent compound P22077 (IC50=19.33
M).
Table 1. Inhibitory activity of compounds C1-C21 against USP7.a
Compounds
X
R1
R2
R3
IC50 (μM)
P22077
C1
-
S
-
-
-
19.33±1.01
>50
H
acetyl
acetyl
acetyl
acetyl
acetyl
acetyl
acetyl
acetyl
acetyl
acetyl
2,3-dichlorophenyl
3,4-dichlorophenyl
2,3-dichlorophenyl
3,4-dichlorophenyl
2,4-dichlorophenyl
2,6-dichlorophenyl
3,5-dichloropyridin-4-yl
3-methoxyphenyl
C2
S
H
>50
C3
S
NO2
NO2
NO2
NO2
NO2
NO2
NO2
NO2
NO2
NO2
NO2
NO2
NO2
NO2
NO2
NO2
NO2
NO2
NO2
9.93±2.79
18.02±3.41
16.75±4.83
4.49±1.40
0.67±0.07
>50
C4
S
C5
S
C6
S
C7
S
C8
S
C9
S
3,4-dimethoxyphenyl
3,4-dichlorobenzyl
>50
C10
C11
C12
C13
C14
C15
C16
C17
C18
C19
C20
C21
NH
S
>50
1-hydroxyethyl
3,5-dichloropyridin-4-yl
3,5-dichloropyridin-4-yl
3,5-dichloropyridin-4-yl
3,5-dichloropyridin-4-yl
3,5-dichloropyridin-4-yl
3,5-dichloropyridin-4-yl
3,5-dichloropyridin-4-yl
6.95±0.35
>50
S
1-acetoxyethyl
S
1-(butyryloxy)ethyl
1-(benzoyloxy)ethyl
1-(benzylamino)ethyl
benzylcarbamoyl
phenylcarbamoyl
4.49±0.23
>50
S
S
26.78±9.10
4.21±1.03
40.49±2.87
2.65±1.19
1.35±0.16
3.65±0.57
6.12±1.98
S
S
S
4-fluorobenzylcarbamoyl 3,5-dichloropyridin-4-yl
3-fluorobenzylcarbamoyl 3,5-dichloropyridin-4-yl
4-methylbenzylcarbamoyl 3,5-dichloropyridin-4-yl
S
S
S
acetyl
2,4-difluorophenyl
a USP7 enzyme and Ub-Rho were incubated in HEPES buffer for 3h. The fluorescence was read on the
Enspire (Excitation at 485 nm and Emission at 535 nm; Perkin Elmer).

4
Cellular assay. All the compounds were tested on human colon cancer HCT-116 cell line. P22077 was
used as the positive control. The results are summarized in Table 2. Notably, the inhibitory activity of these
compounds on the proliferation of HCT-116 cell is basically correlated with their enzyme inhibitory activity.
For example, compounds C7 and C19 exhibited good inhibition activity in both enzymatic and cellular
assays. Nevertheless, off-target effects of compound C14, C17 could not be ruled out due to its weak
enzyme inhibitory activity in comparison with its modest inhibitory potency on HCT-116 cell line. Notably,
even though C21 showed more potent USP7 inhibitory activity than P22077, C21 was less potent than
P22077 on inhibition of HCT-116 cell growth, probably due to the off-target effects.
Next, the effect of these compounds on cell viability was tested on three cancer cell lines with different
p53 status, including HCT-116 (p53wt/wt), RPM I-8226 (p53mt/mt) and H1299 (lack of p53 gene). Similar to
the observation by Reverdy et al5., the thiazole compounds showed a similar level of activity on cell viability
regardless of the p53 status (Table 3). Notably, P5091 treatment decreased the viability of p53 null ARP-1
MM cells, associated with decreased Mdm2 levels and increased p21 expression6. This suggests that
although P5091 increases p53 levels, its cytotoxic activity is not solely dependent on p53, indicating that
P5091-induced cytotoxicity is mediated only in part via p53. In this regard, the thiazole USP7 inhibitors
should also have p53-independent effects on cell viability.
Table 2. Anti-proliferation activity of compounds C1-C21 on HCT-116 cell line.a
Compounds
IC50 (μM)
Compounds
IC50 (μM)
Compounds
IC50 (μM)
P22077
C1
8.82±0.20
>50
C8
17.27±1.82
24.01±3.80
>50
C16
C17
C18
C19
C20
C21
13.47±1.50
12.38±1.50
11.23±2.54
6.36±2.14
6.64±1.34
10.17±0.26
C9
C2
>50
C10
C11
C12
C13
C14
C15
C3
9.29±2.44
16.41±0.48
12.52±1.76
19.31±1.82
8.45±1.76
18.57±5.11
24.78±3.04
11.73±2.78
11.97±2.05
11.83±2.05
C4
C5
C6
C7
a
HCT-116 human colon cancer cells were incubated with vehicle (0.1% DMSO) or inhibitors for 72h
and viable cells were determined using MTT assay.
Table 3. Inhibitory activity of compounds C7 and C19 on cancer cell lines with different p53 status.a
IC50 (μM)
RMPI-8226
(p53mt/mt
Compounds
HCT116
H1299
(lack of p53 gene)
6.21±3.28
(p53wt/wt
)
)
C7
8.45±1.76
6.36±2.14
10.97±0.73
6.11±0.51
C19
3.68±1.10
a
Cell lines with different p53 statues were incubated with vehicle (0.1% DMSO) or inhibitors for 72h
and viable cells were determined using MTT assay.

5
Binding mode of Thiazole USP7 Inhibitors. In order to understand the structural basis of the binding of
thiazole compounds to USP7, the potential binding site of the compounds to USP7 was investigated. Also
P5091 and P22077 can inhibit USP7 with moderate activity and selectivity, related research on the structural
basis for binding to USP7 has not been reported so far.
We carried out molecular docking studies and the observations indicated that either compound C7 or
P22077 (data not shown) was able to interact with the catalytic domain of USP7 (PDB code: 2F1Z, Figure
2). The results raised the hypothesis that P22077 and C7 might bind to the ubiquitin binding pocket to
competitively inhibit the binding of ubiquitin to USP7 (Supplementary data 1, Figure S1, S2). The docking
results indicated that the thiazole derivative C7 and the thiophene derivative P22077 had the similar binding
site and structure-activity relationship, which is consistent with the present data of biological activity
towards the cancer cells and USP7 enzyme system. Together, we believe that C7 and P22077 might both
bind to the ubiquitin-binding pocket of the catalytic domain of USP7, though further experimental data, such
as crystal structures, are needed to confirm this docking hypothesis.
Figure 3. Docked C7 at the ubiquitin- binding site of USP7 (PDB code: 2F1Z), the compound is shown
in the black frame.
In conclusion, we report the synthesis and biological evaluation of a series of thiazole derivatives as a
novel class of USP7 inhibitors. The most potent compounds, C7 and C19, exhibited good inhibition activity
at low micromolar concentrations both in enzyme and cell proliferation assays. Our study results indicated
that these USP7 inhibitors induced cell death regardless of the p53 status. Furthermore, the binding mode of
C7 and P22077 was investigated, and the results implied that both C7 and P22077 might bind to the
ubiquitin-binding pocket of the catalytic domain of USP7 and competitively inhibit the binding of ubiquitin
to USP7. Taken together, this study may provide a new class of USP7 inhibitors. Further biological
evaluation and mechanistic studies including toxicity and solubility of these thiazole compounds are
undergoing in our laboratory.

6
Acknowledgments
Financial support from National Natural Science Foundation of China (grants 81573299, 81473080
and81373303) is gratefully acknowledged. This project is also supported by the “111 Project” from the
Ministry of Education of China, the State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs of China (No.
111-2-07), and program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University
(IRT1193).
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Supplementary Material
Supplementary data 1: materials and methods;
Supplementary data 2: NMR and HRMS.