Synthesis and biological evaluation of steroidal derivatives as selective inhibitors of AKR1B10

• Sixteen steroidal derivatives were designed and synthesized.
• We evaluated their AKR1B10 and AKR1B1 biological activities.
• The binding modes of AKR1B10 were identified by docking.

AKR1B10 is a member of human aldo–keto reductase superfamily, and a promising anti-cancer therapeutic target. In this paper, androst-5-ene-3β-ol, dehydroepiandrosterone, pregnenolone and cholesterol were used as reactants, sixteen products were obtained through Jones reaction and reduction reaction using NaBH4. Their inhibitory activities against AKR1B10 and AKR1B1 were measured. The most active compound (3a) has the IC50 of 0.50 μM for AKR1B10, and the most AKR1B10 selective compound (2a) has the IC50 of 0.81 μM with AKR1B1/AKR1B10 selectivity of 195. In addition, the binding modes of 2a and 3a in the active site of human AKR1B10 were identified by docking.