Title:Advances in Medicinal Chemistry of Estrogen-related Receptor Alpha
(ERRα) Inverse Agonists
Volume: 23
Issue: 20
Author(s): Haibin Zhang, Yongli Du*, Yong Zheng, Huiting Lv, Zhijia Yan, Ning Dong, Yaling Zhu and Jingkang Shen
Affiliation:
- School of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan, 250353, China
Keywords:
ERRalpha, ERRalpha inverse agonists, Breast cancer, TNBC, Signaling pathways, Inverse agonistic activity.
Abstract: Estrogen-related receptor alpha (ERRα), a member of the nuclear receptor superfamily, is
strongly expressed in breast cancer cells. Its overexpression is associated with poor prognosis in triple-
negative Breast Cancer (TNBC). ERRα expression could be inhibited by the downregulation of
upstream oncogenic growth factors mTOR, HER2, and PI3K. Low expression of ERRα could suppress
the migration and angiogenesis of tumor cells by inhibiting the activity of its downstream signals
VEGF and WNT11. Studies have confirmed that ERRα inverse agonists can inhibit ERRα expression
to treat breast cancer. Inverse agonists of ERRα could disrupt the interactions of ERRα
with its coactivators and inhibit tumor development. Existing ERRα inverse agonists have shown
moderate efficacy in inhibiting the growth of breast cancer cells. Clinical inverse agonists of ERRα
have not been found in the literature. This review focuses on the research progress and the structureactivity
relationship of ERRα inverse agonists, providing guidance for the research and discovery of
new anti-tumor compounds for TNBC.