4,6-Disubstituted-1H-Indazole-4-Amine derivatives with immune-chemotherapy effect and in vivo antitumor activity

Tryptophan-2,3-dioxygenase (TDO) and indoleamine-2, 3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) are the important tumor immune checkpoints and TDO and IDO1 inhibition may present a potential approach to activate the T cell-mediated antitumor immune response during cancer treatment. Herein, we designed and synthesized a series of nitro-aryl 1H-indazole derivatives. SARs analysis showed that the nitro-aryl at the C-4 position of 1H-indazole was beneficial for TDO inhibition and directly tumoricidal effect and the substituents at C-6 position of 1H-indazole significantly affected the activity and selectivity of IDO1/TDO. Among these derivatives, HT-28 and HT-30 demonstrated nanomolar potency and excellent selectivity against TDO with IC50 values of 0.62 μM and 0.17 μM respectively, and HT-37 showed the IDO1 and TDO dual-target inhibitory activity with IC50 values of 0.91 μM and 0.46 μM against IDO1 and TDO. Moreover, HT-28 showed the significant tumoricidal effect on six tumor cell lines, while HT-30 and HT-37 had almost no cytotoxic activity on these tumor cells. In the CT-26 allograft BALB/c mice, HT-28 had the significant in vivo antitumor activity at a lower dose. IHC staining assay indicated that HT-28 could reduce the expression of Foxp3 and enhance the expression of CD8 and TNF-α in tumor tissue. In summary, we developed a difunctional monomer with immune-chemotherapy effect to obtain the better in anti-tumor activity.