Abstract 1862: Naphthoquinone analogues inhibit Wnt/β-catenin signaling and colorectal cancer tumorigenesis

Abstract In this study, we performed a structure-activity-relationship study of seven previously identified chloro-naphthoquinone analogs and evaluated their abilities to inhibit the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway plays essential roles in colorectal cancer (CRC) initiation, proliferation, and development. While targeting the Wnt/β-catenin pathway has been validated as a very promising approach for CRC treatment, developing a therapeutic for inhibition of this elusive pathway has been very challenging for researchers. Of the seven chloro-naphthoquinone analogues, we found that two compounds, Compound 3 and Compound 6, significantly inhibited Wnt target gene transcription and Wnt-induced colorectal tumorigenesis in vitro. Chromatin immunoprecipitation binding assays and computational modeling analysis revealed that Compound 3 and Compound 6 inhibit the Wnt/β-catenin pathway through disruption of the TCF4-DNA binding, a crucial step for the activation of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Lastly, using a patient-derived organoid model and xenograft mouse model, we showed that these compounds inhibit CRC tumorigenesis. Taken together, this study demonstrates a novel mechanism of action for these chloro-naphthoquinone analogs, which can be further explored in future drug design and discovery efforts for small molecules targeting the TCF family proteins for inhibition of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Citation Format: Rosalie G. Hoyle, Andrew Morris, Piyusha Pagare, Shadid Uz Zaman, Zhikun Ma, Yan Zhang, Jiong Li. Naphthoquinone analogues inhibit Wnt/β-catenin signaling and colorectal cancer tumorigenesis [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 1862.