A novel class of anthraquinone-based HDAC6 inhibitors

Histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) is an important target for the treatment of diverse diseases including cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, autoimmune disorders, inflammation, drug addiction, and viral infection. Therefore, the discovery of HDAC6-isoform selective inhibitors is of high importance for clinical applications. Here, we present an approach to discover HDAC6-isoform selective inhibitors. To our best knowledge, we for the first time perform a virtual screening campaign in the surface and channel region of HDAC6 enzyme, followed by rational installation of zinc binding group for the development of HDAC6-isoform selective inhibitors. Consequently, this approach establishes the proof of principle for the discovery of HDAC6-isoform selective inhibitors and successfully provides our lead compound 3. In particular, compound 3 inhibits HDAC6 enzyme with an IC50 value of 56 nM and displays an excellent HDAC6 selectivity over other HDAC isoforms in HDAC enzyme assay. Furthermore, the exposure of SH-SY5Y cells with compound 3 significantly promotes the acetylation of α-tubulin at the low concentration of 0.5 μM, but not the acetylation of Histone H3 up to 20 μM. Thus, our lead compound 3 represents a novel HDAC6-isoform selective inhibitor and warrants further studies for therapeutic evaluation. [Display omitted] •Virtual screening followed by rational installation of zinc binding group, chemical synthesis, and biological evaluation of HDAC6 inhibitors are presented.•Compound 3 exhibits good HDAC6 selectivity over other HDAC isoforms.•Compound 3 significantly promotes the acetylation of α-tubulin at the low concentration of 0.5 μM, but not the acetylation of Histone H3 up to 20 μM.