Design, synthesis, and pharmacological evaluation of bis-2-(5- phenylacetamido-1,2,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)ethyl sulfide 3 (BPTES) analogs as glutaminase inhibitors

Bis-2-(5-phenylacetamido-1,2,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)ethyl sulfide (BPTES) is a potent and selective allosteric inhibitor of kidney-type glutaminase (GLS) that has served as a molecular probe to determine the therapeutic potential of GLS inhibition. In an attempt to identify more potent GLS inhibitors with improved drug-like molecular properties, a series of BPTES analogs were synthesized and evaluated. Our structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies revealed that some truncated analogs retained the potency of BPTES, presenting an opportunity to improve its aqueous solubility. One of the analogs, N-(5-{2-[2-(5-amino-[1,3,4] thiadiazol-2-yl)-ethylsulfanyl]-ethyl}-[1,3,4]thiadiazol-2-yl) -2-phenyl-acetamide 6, exhibited similar potency and better solubility relative to BPTES and attenuated the growth of P493 human lymphoma B cells in vitro as well as in a mouse xenograft model.