Selected papers

Sulfonamido carboranes as highly selective inhibitors of cancer-specific carbonic anhydrase IX
Sulfonamido carboranes as highly selective inhibitors of cancer-specific carbonic anhydrase IX
European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 200: 112460 (2020)
Carbonic anhydrase IX (CA IX) is a transmembrane enzyme overexpressed in hypoxic tumors, where it plays an important role in tumor progression. Specific CA IX inhibitors potentially could serve as anti-cancer drugs. We designed a series of sulfonamide inhibitors containing carborane clusters based on prior structural knowledge of carborane binding into the enzyme active site. Two types of carborane clusters, 12-vertex dicarba-closo-dodecaborane and 11-vertex 7,8-dicarba-nido-undecaborate (dicarbollide), were connected to a sulfonamide moiety via aliphatic linkers of varying lengths (1–4 carbon atoms; n = 1–4). In vitro testing of CA inhibitory potencies revealed that the optimal linker length for selective inhibition of CA IX was n = 3. A 1-sulfamidopropyl-1,2-dicarba-closo-dodecaborane (3) emerged as the strongest CA IX inhibitor from this series, with a Ki value of 0.5 nM and roughly 1230-fold selectivity towards CA IX over CA II. X-ray studies of 3 yielded structural insights into…

Latest publications

Imidazo[1,2-c]pyrimidin-5(6H)-one inhibitors of CDK2: Synthesis, kinase inhibition and co-crystal structure
European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 216: 113309 (2021)
N-Glycosylation can selectively block or foster different receptor–ligand binding modes
Scientific Reports 11: 5239 (2021)
Cobalt Bis(dicarbollide) Alkylsulfonamides: Potent and Highly Selective Inhibitors of Tumor Specific Carbonic Anhydrase IX
ChemPlusChem 86 (3): 352-363 (2021)