Identification of potential therapeutic dual inhibitors of EGFR/HER2 in breast cancer

Breast cancer (BC) is the leading cause of death among women worldwide. According to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF), 25% of all cases of BC are positive for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), which is the most aggressive phenotype among the five BC subtypes. Previous stud...

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Main Authors: Megha Jethwa, Aditi Gangopadhyay, Achintya Saha
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-08-01
Series:European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772417424000153
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author Megha Jethwa
Aditi Gangopadhyay
Achintya Saha
author_facet Megha Jethwa
Aditi Gangopadhyay
Achintya Saha
author_sort Megha Jethwa
collection DOAJ
description Breast cancer (BC) is the leading cause of death among women worldwide. According to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF), 25% of all cases of BC are positive for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), which is the most aggressive phenotype among the five BC subtypes. Previous studies have reported that the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is also overexpressed in HER2-positive BC, which elevates disease severity. Based on these findings, the present study aimed to identify dual inhibitors of EGFR and HER2 by employing chemometric modelling techniques. A dataset of chemical molecules with affinity for both EGFR and HER2 was prepared by literature review. The dataset was split into training and test sets based on the inhibitory concentration (IC50) for EGFR and HER2. The training set was used to generate two pharmacophore models, one each for EGFR (n = 30, R2 value = 0.82 with RMSD = 1.4, Δ cost = 151.84, and configuration cost = 20.3) and HER2 (n = 30, R2 value = 0.84 with RMSD = 1.0, Δ cost = 68.47, and configuration cost = 22.2). The developed models were validated using the test set (n = 214 and 201, andR2pred = 0.73 and 0.70, for EGFR and HER2, respectively), decoy set (decoys = 104, actives = 18), and an external dataset (n = 20). The robustness of the models was validated using Fischer's randomization method (at 95% confidence) and applicability domain analysis. The validated models for EGFR and HER2 were used to screen the Asinex library (n = 575,302) for identifying consensus hits against both targets. Molecules with predicted IC50 < 20 nM were subsequently screened, and their toxicity profiles were evaluated using ProTox II. The interactions, ligand efficiency, and binding affinities of the selected compounds were assessed from the docking scores and molecular mechanics with generalized Born and surface area solvation (MMGBSA) energy. Hit selection against EGFR and HER2 was finally achieved by molecular dynamics simulations using the OPLS4 force field in Desmond. The identified hit can serve as a reference for developing dual inhibitors of EGFR and HER2 in future.
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spelling doaj.art-c5f9d0354fd7444f816c220c0cf077cd2024-03-13T04:46:32ZengElsevierEuropean Journal of Medicinal Chemistry Reports2772-41742024-08-0111100143Identification of potential therapeutic dual inhibitors of EGFR/HER2 in breast cancerMegha Jethwa0Aditi Gangopadhyay1Achintya Saha2Department of Chemical Technology, University of Calcutta, 92 APC Road, Kolkata, 700009, IndiaDepartment of Chemical Technology, University of Calcutta, 92 APC Road, Kolkata, 700009, IndiaCorresponding author.; Department of Chemical Technology, University of Calcutta, 92 APC Road, Kolkata, 700009, IndiaBreast cancer (BC) is the leading cause of death among women worldwide. According to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF), 25% of all cases of BC are positive for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), which is the most aggressive phenotype among the five BC subtypes. Previous studies have reported that the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is also overexpressed in HER2-positive BC, which elevates disease severity. Based on these findings, the present study aimed to identify dual inhibitors of EGFR and HER2 by employing chemometric modelling techniques. A dataset of chemical molecules with affinity for both EGFR and HER2 was prepared by literature review. The dataset was split into training and test sets based on the inhibitory concentration (IC50) for EGFR and HER2. The training set was used to generate two pharmacophore models, one each for EGFR (n = 30, R2 value = 0.82 with RMSD = 1.4, Δ cost = 151.84, and configuration cost = 20.3) and HER2 (n = 30, R2 value = 0.84 with RMSD = 1.0, Δ cost = 68.47, and configuration cost = 22.2). The developed models were validated using the test set (n = 214 and 201, andR2pred = 0.73 and 0.70, for EGFR and HER2, respectively), decoy set (decoys = 104, actives = 18), and an external dataset (n = 20). The robustness of the models was validated using Fischer's randomization method (at 95% confidence) and applicability domain analysis. The validated models for EGFR and HER2 were used to screen the Asinex library (n = 575,302) for identifying consensus hits against both targets. Molecules with predicted IC50 < 20 nM were subsequently screened, and their toxicity profiles were evaluated using ProTox II. The interactions, ligand efficiency, and binding affinities of the selected compounds were assessed from the docking scores and molecular mechanics with generalized Born and surface area solvation (MMGBSA) energy. Hit selection against EGFR and HER2 was finally achieved by molecular dynamics simulations using the OPLS4 force field in Desmond. The identified hit can serve as a reference for developing dual inhibitors of EGFR and HER2 in future.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772417424000153Dual inhibitorEGFRHER2Pharmacophore modelDockingMolecular dynamics simulation
spellingShingle Megha Jethwa
Aditi Gangopadhyay
Achintya Saha
Identification of potential therapeutic dual inhibitors of EGFR/HER2 in breast cancer
European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry Reports
Dual inhibitor
EGFR
HER2
Pharmacophore model
Docking
Molecular dynamics simulation
title Identification of potential therapeutic dual inhibitors of EGFR/HER2 in breast cancer
title_full Identification of potential therapeutic dual inhibitors of EGFR/HER2 in breast cancer
title_fullStr Identification of potential therapeutic dual inhibitors of EGFR/HER2 in breast cancer
title_full_unstemmed Identification of potential therapeutic dual inhibitors of EGFR/HER2 in breast cancer
title_short Identification of potential therapeutic dual inhibitors of EGFR/HER2 in breast cancer
title_sort identification of potential therapeutic dual inhibitors of egfr her2 in breast cancer
topic Dual inhibitor
EGFR
HER2
Pharmacophore model
Docking
Molecular dynamics simulation
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772417424000153
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