Design, synthesis and biological activity of N-(3-substituted-phenyl)benzenesulfonamides as selective and reversible LSD1 inhibitors

Lysine specific demethylase 1 plays a crucial role in regulating histone methylation at residues K4 and K9 on histone H3 and over-expresses in a variety of cancers. Here we designed, synthesized and evaluated a series of N-(3-substituted-phenyl)benzenesulfonamides as reversible lysine specific demethylase 1 inhibitors. All the compounds exhibited lysine specific demethylase 1 inhibition with the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values between 7.5 and 68 μM. Three most active compounds 2a, 2c and 2i displayed only modest effect on flavin adenine dinucleotide-dependent enzymes mono-amine oxidases A and B, and their reversibilities of lysine specific demethylase 1 inhibition were confirmed. Molecular docking was also carried out to predict the binding mode of 2a into the active site of lysine specific demethylase 1. Taken together, N-(3-substituted-phenyl)benzenesulfonamides including 2a represent a new class of selective and reversible lysine specific demethylase 1 inhibitors with pharmaceutical research.