N-Terminal domain antiandrogen | |
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Drug class | |
![]() EPI-001, the first major N-terminal domain AR antagonist to be developed. | |
Class identifiers | |
Synonyms | N-Terminal domain AR antagonists; AR NTD antagonists |
Use | Prostate cancer |
Biological target | Androgen receptor |
Legal status | |
In Wikidata |
N-Terminal domain antiandrogens are a novel type of antiandrogen that bind to the N-terminal domain of the androgen receptor (AR) instead of the ligand-binding domain (where all currently-available antiandrogens bind) and disrupt interactions between the AR and its coregulatory binding partners, thereby blocking AR-mediated gene transcription. They are being investigated for the treatment of prostate cancer.
Antiandrogens, also known as androgen antagonists or testosterone blockers, are a class of drugs that prevent androgens like testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) from mediating their biological effects in the body. They act by blocking the androgen receptor (AR) and/or inhibiting or suppressing androgen production. They can be thought of as the functional opposites of AR agonists, for instance androgens and anabolic steroids (AAS) like testosterone, DHT, and nandrolone and selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) like enobosarm. Antiandrogens are one of three types of sex hormone antagonists, the others being antiestrogens and antiprogestogens.
Steroid hormone receptors are found in the nucleus, cytosol, and also on the plasma membrane of target cells. They are generally intracellular receptors and initiate signal transduction for steroid hormones which lead to changes in gene expression over a time period of hours to days. The best studied steroid hormone receptors are members of the nuclear receptor subfamily 3 (NR3) that include receptors for estrogen and 3-ketosteroids. In addition to nuclear receptors, several G protein-coupled receptors and ion channels act as cell surface receptors for certain steroid hormones.
The androgen receptor (AR), also known as NR3C4, is a type of nuclear receptor that is activated by binding any of the androgenic hormones, including testosterone and dihydrotestosterone, in the cytoplasm and then translocating into the nucleus. The androgen receptor is most closely related to the progesterone receptor, and progestins in higher dosages can block the androgen receptor.
Huntingtin-interacting protein 1 also known as HIP-1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the HIP1 gene.
Metribolone is a synthetic and orally active anabolic–androgenic steroid (AAS) and a 17α-alkylated nandrolone (19-nortestosterone) derivative which was never marketed for medical use but has been widely used in scientific research as a hot ligand in androgen receptor (AR) ligand binding assays (LBAs) and as a photoaffinity label for the AR. More precisely, metribolone is the 17α-methylated derivative of trenbolone. It was investigated briefly for the treatment of advanced breast cancer in women in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but was found to produce signs of severe hepatotoxicity at very low dosages, and its development was subsequently discontinued.
Enzalutamide, sold under the brand name Xtandi, is a nonsteroidal antiandrogen (NSAA) medication which is used in the treatment of prostate cancer. It is indicated for use in conjunction with castration in the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, and metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer (mCSPC). It is taken by mouth.
The first antiandrogen was discovered in the 1960s. Antiandrogens antagonise the androgen receptor (AR) and thereby block the biological effects of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Antiandrogens are important for men with hormonally responsive diseases like prostate cancer, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BHP), acne, seborrhea, hirsutism and androgen alopecia. Antiandrogens are mainly used for the treatment of prostate diseases. Research from 2010 suggests that ARs could be linked to the disease progression of triple-negative breast cancer and salivary duct carcinoma and that antiandrogens can potentially be used to treat it.
EPI-001 is the first inhibitor of the androgen receptor amino-terminal domain. The single stereoisomer of EPI-001, EPI-002, is a first-in-class drug that the USAN council assigned a new stem class "-aniten" and the generic name "ralaniten". This distinguishes the anitens novel molecular mechanism from anti androgens that bind the C-terminus ligand-binding domain and have the stem class "lutamide". EPI-001 and its stereoisomers and analogues were discovered by Marianne Sadar and Raymond Andersen, who co-founded the pharmaceutical company ESSA Pharma Inc for the clinical development of anitens for the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC).
Hydroxyflutamide (HF, OHF) (developmental code name SCH-16423), or 2-hydroxyflutamide, is a nonsteroidal antiandrogen (NSAA) and the major active metabolite of flutamide, which is considered to be a prodrug of hydroxyflutamide as the active form. It has been reported to possess an IC50 of 700 nM for the androgen receptor (AR), which is about 4-fold less than that of bicalutamide.
A nonsteroidal antiandrogen (NSAA) is an antiandrogen with a nonsteroidal chemical structure. They are typically selective and full or silent antagonists of the androgen receptor (AR) and act by directly blocking the effects of androgens like testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT). NSAAs are used in the treatment of androgen-dependent conditions in men and women. They are the converse of steroidal antiandrogens (SAAs), which are antiandrogens that are steroids and are structurally related to testosterone.
Apalutamide, sold under the brand name Erleada among others, is a nonsteroidal antiandrogen (NSAA) medication used for the treatment of prostate cancer. It is an androgen receptor inhibitor. It is taken by mouth.
Ralaniten acetate is a first-in-class antiandrogen that targets the N-terminal domain (NTD) of the androgen receptor (AR) developed by ESSA Pharmaceuticals and was under investigation for the treatment of prostate cancer. This mechanism of action is believed to allow the drug to block signaling from the AR and its splice variants. EPI-506 is a derivative of bisphenol A and a prodrug of ralaniten (EPI-002), one of the four stereoisomers of EPI-001, and was developed as a successor of EPI-001. The drug reached phase I/II prior to the discontinuation of its development. It showed signs of efficacy in the form of prostatic specific antigen (PSA) decreases (4–29%) predominantly at higher doses (≥1,280 mg) in some patients but also caused side effects and was discontinued by its developer in favor of next-generation AR NTD inhibitors with improved potency and tolerability.
BOMT, also known by its developmental code name Ro 7-2340 and as 6α-bromo-4-oxa-17α-methyl-5α-dihydrotestosterone, is a synthetic steroidal antiandrogen which was first produced in 1970 and was never marketed for medical use. It is the 6α-brominated, 4-oxygenated, and 17α-methylated derivative of the androgen dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Along with benorterone, cyproterone, and flutamide, BOMT was among the earliest antiandrogens to be developed and extensively studied, although it is less well-documented in comparison to the others. BOMT has been investigated clinically in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia, though development for this use did not continue. There was also interest in BOMT for the potential applications of acne, pattern hair loss, and possibly prostate cancer, but it was not developed for these indications either.
DIMP, or N-(3,5-dimethyl-4-isoxazolylmethyl)phthalimide, is a nonsteroidal antiandrogen (NSAA) structurally related to thalidomide that was first described in 1973 and was never marketed. Along with flutamide, it was one of the earliest NSAAs to be discovered, and for this reason, has been described as a "classical" NSAA. The drug is a selective, competitive, silent antagonist of the AR, although it is described as an "only relatively weak competitor". Its relative binding affinity for the androgen receptor is about 2.6% of that of metribolone. DIMP possesses no androgenic, estrogenic, progestogenic, or antigonadotropic activity, but it does reverse the antigonadotropic effects of testosterone, indicating that, like other pure AR antagonists, it is progonadotropic.
Ralaniten is an N-terminal domain antiandrogen which was never marketed. It is a derivative of bisphenol A and one of the four stereoisomers of EPI-001. A prodrug of ralaniten, ralaniten acetate (EPI-506), was under development for the treatment of prostate cancer.
5N-Bicalutamide, or 5-azabicalutamide, is a highly potent nonsteroidal antiandrogen (NSAA) which was discovered in 2016. It is a structural modification of bicalutamide differing it from it only by the replacement of a carbon atom with a nitrogen atom in one of its phenyl rings. Similarly to bicalutamide, the drug acts as a selective antagonist of the androgen receptor (AR). However, unlike bicalutamide, it is a reversible covalent antagonist and stays bound to the receptor for a far longer amount of time. As a result of this difference, 5N-bicalutamide has markedly improved potency relative to bicalutamide, with approximately 150-fold higher affinity for the AR (Ki = 0.15 nM versus 22.3 nM) and about 20-fold greater functional inhibition (IC50Tooltip Half-maximal inhibitory concentration = 15 nM versus 310 nM) of the AR. Future studies of 5N-bicalutamide in normal and mutated prostate cancer cells are planned or underway and it is anticipated that N-bicalutamide may be able to overcome resistance. to current antiandrogens that are used in the treatment of prostate cancer.
RU-59063 is a nonsteroidal androgen or selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) which was first described in 1994 and was never marketed. It was originally thought to be a potent antiandrogen, but subsequent research found that it actually possesses dose-dependent androgenic activity, albeit with lower efficacy than dihydrotestosterone (DHT). The drug is an N-substituted arylthiohydantoin and was derived from the first-generation nonsteroidal antiandrogen (NSAA) nilutamide. The second-generation NSAAs enzalutamide, RD-162, and apalutamide were derived from RU-59063.
EM-5854 is a steroidal antiandrogen which was under development by Endoceutics, Inc. for the treatment of prostate cancer. It was first described in a patent in 2008, and was further characterized in 2012. EM-5854 reached phase I/II clinical trials for the treatment of prostate cancer but development was discontinued in March 2019.
5α-Dihydroethisterone is an active metabolite of the formerly clinically used but now-discontinued progestin ethisterone and the experimental and never-marketed hormonal antineoplastic agent ethynylandrostanediol (HE-3235). Its formation from its parent drugs is catalyzed by 5α-reductase in tissues that express the enzyme in high amounts like the liver, skin, hair follicles, and prostate gland. 5α-DHET has significant affinity for steroid hormone receptors and may contribute importantly to the activities of its parent drugs.
Masofaniten, also known by its developmental code name EPI-7386, is an N-terminal domain antiandrogen, or antagonist of the N-terminal domain (NTD) of the androgen receptor (AR), which is under development for the treatment of prostate cancer. The compound was developed as a successor of previous drugs in the EPI series such as EPI-001, ralaniten (EPI-002), and ralaniten acetate (EPI-506). Masofaniten shows 20-fold higher antiandrogenic potency than ralaniten in vitro (IC50Tooltip Half-maximal inhibitory concentration = 535 nM vs. 9,580 nM, respectively), as well as greater stability in human hepatocytes. It was planned to enter phase I clinical trials in 2020. Preliminary results of a phase I/II clinical trial were published in 2023.