The potential for new and resilient anti-cancer drugs based upon minor groove binders for DNA

Anti-infective and anticancer drugs share the serious problem that over time resistance develops to their effects leading to clinical obsolescence. Research at the University of Strathclyde has discovered a platform of anti-infective drugs based upon minor groove binders for DNA that have exceptional resilience to the development of resistance in their target organisms (bacteria, fungi, and parasites). This property is associated with the fact that the Strathclyde minor groove binders (S-MGBs) act at more than one discrete molecular target. One of the compounds has successfully completed a phase IIa clinical trial for the treatment of Clostridioides difficile infections. Several other compounds have shown activity against a number of cancer cell lines in vitro with indications of in vivo activity in a mouse model of lung cancer. This paper places these discoveries in the context of previous studies of minor groove binders as anticancer agents and considers whether the benefits of multitargeting successfully demonstrated in anti-infective applications can be translated to anticancer applications.