Identification of Jumonji AT-Rich Interactive Domain 1A Inhibitors and Their Effect on Cancer Cells

Abstract

Jumonji AT-rich interactive domain 1A (JARID1A), one of the jumonji C domain-containing histone demethylase (JHDM) family members, plays key roles in cancer cell proliferation and development of drug tolerance. Therefore, selective JARID1A inhibitors are potential anticancer agents. In this study, we searched for cell-active JARID1A inhibitors by screening hydroxamate compounds in our in-house library and the structural optimization based on docking study of the hit-compound to a homology model of JARID1A. As a result, we identified compound <b>6j</b>, which selectively inhibits JARID1A over three other JHDM family members. Compound <b>7j</b>, a prodrug form of compound <b>6j</b>, induced a selective increase in the level of trimethylation of histone H3 lysine 4, a substrate of JARID1A. Furthermore, compound <b>7j</b> synergistically enhanced A549 human lung cancer cell growth inhibition induced by vorinostat, a histone deacetylase inhibitor. These findings support the idea that JARID1A inhibitors have potential as anticancer agents