Modified Podophyllotoxin Phenoxyacetamide Phenylacetate Derivatives: Tubulin/AKT1 Dual-Targeting and Potential Anticancer Agents for Human NSCLC

Cancer is a major disease threatening human health worldwide, among which non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most deadly. Clinically, almost all anticancer drugs eventually fail to consistently benefit patients due to serious drug resistance. AKT is a key effector of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, which is closely related to the occurrence, development, and drug resistance of tumors. Herein, we first designed and synthesized 20 kinds of novel hybrid molecules targeting both tubulin and AKT based on a podophyllotoxin (PPT) skeleton through computer-aided drug design. By CCK8 assay, we screened the compound D1-1 (IC50 = 0.10 μM) with the strongest inhibitory activity against H1975 cells, and its activity was 100 times higher than PPT (IC50 = 12.56 μM) and 300 times higher than gefitinib (IC50 = 32.15 μM). Affinity analysis results showed that D1-1 not only retained the tubulin targeting of PPT but also showed strong AKT targeting. Subsequent pharmacological experiments showed that D1-1 significantly inhibited the proliferation and metastasis of H1975 cells and slightly induced their apoptosis by inhibiting both tubulin polymerization and the AKT pathway activation. Collectively, these data demonstrate that the novel hybrid molecule D1-1 may be an excellent lead compound for the treatment of human NSCLC as a dual inhibitor of tubulin and AKT.