Design, Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Stilbene Derivatives as Novel Inhibitors of Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase 1B

By imitating the scaffold of lithocholic acid (LCA), a natural steroidal compound displaying Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) inhibitory activity, a series of stilbene derivatives containing phenyl-substituted isoxazoles were designed and synthesized. The structures of the title compounds were confirmed by (1)H-NMR, (13)C-NMR and HRMS. Activities of the title compounds were evaluated on PTP1B and the homologous enzyme TCPTP by using a colorimetric assay. Most of the target compounds had good activities against PTP1B. Among them, compound 29 (IC(50) = 0.91 ± 0.33 μM), characterized by a 5-(2,3-dichlorophenyl) isoxazole moiety, exhibited an activity about 14-fold higher than the lead compound LCA and a 4.2-fold selectivity over TCPTP. Compound 29 was identified as a competitive inhibitor of PTP1B with a K(i) value of 0.78 μM in enzyme kinetic studies.