Novel pyrrolo[3,2-d]pyrimidine compounds target mitochondrial and cytosolic one-carbon metabolism with broad-spectrum antitumor efficacy. Author Aamod Dekhne, Khushbu Shah, Gregory Ducker, Jade Katinas, Jennifer Wong-Roushar, Md Nayeen, Arpit Doshi, Changwen Ning, Xun Bao, Josephine Frühauf, Jenney Liu, Adrianne Wallace-Povirk, Carrie O'Connor, Sijana Dzinic, Kathryn White, Juiwanna Kushner, Seongho Kim, Maik Hüttemann, Lisa Polin, Joshua Rabinowitz, Jing Li, Zhanjun Hou, Charles Dann, Aleem Gangjee, Larry Matherly Publication Year 2019 Type Journal Article Abstract Folate-dependent one-carbon (C1) metabolism is compartmentalized into the mitochondria and cytosol and supports cell growth through nucleotide and amino acid biosynthesis. Mitochondrial C1 metabolism, including serine hydroxymethyltransferase (SHMT) 2, provides glycine, NAD(P)H, ATP, and C1 units for cytosolic biosynthetic reactions, and is implicated in the oncogenic phenotype across a wide range of cancers. Whereas multi-targeted inhibitors of cytosolic C1 metabolism such as pemetrexed are used clinically, there are currently no anticancer drugs that specifically target mitochondrial C1 metabolism. We used molecular modeling to design novel small-molecule pyrrolo[3,2-d]pyrimidine inhibitors targeting mitochondrial C1 metabolism at SHMT2. In vitro antitumor efficacy was established with the lead compounds (AGF291, AGF320, AGF347) toward lung, colon, and pancreatic cancer cells. Intracellular targets were identified by metabolic rescue with glycine and nucleosides, and by targeted metabolomics using a stable isotope tracer, with confirmation by in vitro assays with purified enzymes. In addition to targeting SHMT2, inhibition of the cytosolic purine biosynthetic enzymes, β-glycinamide ribonucleotide formyltransferase and/or 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide formyltransferase, and SHMT1 was also established. AGF347 generated significant in vivo antitumor efficacy with potential for complete responses against both early stage and upstage MIA PaCa-2 pancreatic tumor xenografts, providing compelling proof-of-concept for therapeutic targeting of SHMT2 and cytosolic C1 enzymes by this series. Our results establish structure-activity relationships and identify exciting new drug prototypes for further development as multi-targeted antitumor agents. Journal Mol Cancer Ther Date Published 07/2019 ISSN Number 1538-8514 DOI 10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-19-0037 Alternate Journal Mol. Cancer Ther. PMID 31289137 PubMedGoogle ScholarBibTeXEndNote X3 XML