Northern Institute for Cancer Research, School of Natural Sciences-Chemistry, Bedson Building, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK. i.r.hardcastle@ncl.ac.uk
A series of 2-N-alkyl-3-aryl-3-alkoxyisoindolinones has been synthesised and evaluated as inhibitors of the MDM2-p53 interaction. The most potent compound, 3-(4-chlorophenyl)-3-(4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxybenzyloxy)-2-propyl-2,3-dihydroisoindol-1-one (NU8231), exhibited an IC50 of 5.3 +/- 0.9 microM in an ELISA assay, and induced p53-dependent gene transcription in a dose-dependent manner, in the SJSA human sarcoma cell line.