Androgen receptor antagonists produced by Streptomyces overcome resistance to enzalutamide

Prostate cancer (PC) is a leading cause of cancer-related death in men in Western countries. Androgen receptor (AR) signaling is a major driver of PC; therefore, androgen deprivation by medical and surgical castration is the standard treatment for patients with PC. However, over time, most patients will progress to metastatic castration-resistant PC. Enzalutamide is the only AR antagonist approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant PC. However, resistance to enzalutamide also develops in most patients with castration-resistant PC. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop new AR antagonists with new structures. For this purpose, we conducted both in silico and natural product screenings. From the in silico screening, we obtained T5853872 and more potent compound, STK765173. From the natural product screening, the novel compound arabilin was isolated from Streptomyces sp. MK756-CF1. Unlike STK765173, arabilin could overcome resistance to enzalutamide. Furthermore, we also extracted a novel compound, antarlide A, and its geometric isomers from Streptomyces sp. BB47. Antarlides A–F have novel 22-membered-ring macrocyclic structures, while antarlides G and H have 20-membered-ring structures. Both antarlides B and G showed potent AR antagonist activity in prostate cancer cells and could overcome resistance to enzalutamide.