Background/aims: Human SIRT1 is reported to be involved in tumorgenesis, mainly due to its modulating effect on p53 by deacetylation on lysine382. A large quantity of SIRT1 inhibitors was applied in chemotherapeutic study, but few of them were applied into clinical trials.
Methods and results: In the current study, a novel series of compounds with 1,4-bispiperazinecarbodithioic acid methyl esters scaffold were characterized to have inhibitory potency to SIRT1 by molecular docking and biochemical evaluation. Further cell level study revealed that one of the most potent SIRT1 inhibitors, compound 3a, is cell active. It can upregulate the amount of p53 by accumulating the K382 acetylation of p53, which lead to the stabilization of p53 in human gastric cancer cell line MGC-803 cells. Meanwhile, we also found compound 3a can inactivate SIRT2 in cells, which suggests the compound as a non-selective SIRT inhibitor.
Conclusion: All these findings indicate that compound 3a is a potent, reversible and cell active SIRT1 inhibitor and deserves further investigation as an anticancer agent or a biological tool.
© 2016 The Author(s) Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.