Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of regioisomers of 666-15 as inhibitors of CREB-mediated gene transcription

cAMP-response element binding protein (CREB) is a nuclear transcription factor that has been implicated in the pathogenesis and maintenance of various types of human cancers. Identification of small molecule inhibitors of CREB-mediated gene transcription has been pursued as a novel strategy for developing cancer therapeutics. We recently discovered a potent and cell-permeable CREB inhibitor called 666-15. 666-15 is a bisnaphthamide and has been shown to possess efficacious anti-breast cancer activity without toxicity in vivo. In this study, we designed and synthesized a series of analogs of 666-15 to probe the importance of regiochemistry in naphthalene ring B. Biological evaluations of these analogs demonstrated that the substitution pattern of the alkoxy and carboxamide in naphthalene ring B is very critical for maintaining potent CREB inhibition activity, suggesting that the unique bioactive conformation accessible in 666-15 is critically important.