Chalcone derivatives as novel,potent and selective inhibitors against human Notum:Structure–activity relationships and biological evaluations

Human Notum(hNotum)inhibitors could be used for treating Wnt signalling-associated diseases including colorectal cancer.Herein,two series of chalcone derivatives were designed and synthesized aiming to find selective and potent hNotum inhibitors.Structure–activity relationship(SAR)studies showed that 2-methoxyl and 5-bromine substitutions on A-ring significantly enhanced anti-hNotum effect,while 4’-ethoxyl and 3’-alkyl substitutions on B-ring were beneficial for hNotum inhibition.Among all tested chalcones,B11 displayed the most potent anti-Notum effect(IC_(50)=3.6 nmol/L),good selectivity,excellent chemical stability and suitable metabolic stability.Further investigations showed that B11 acted as a competitive inhibitor of hNotum,while this agent(5μmol/L)significantly weaken the migration abilities of colorectal cancer cells.Collectively,this study deciphers the SARs of chalcones as hNotum inhibitors and reports a novel and potent hNotum inhibitor with the anti-migration effect on colorectal cancer cells,which offers a promising lead compound to develop novel anti-cancer agents.