Discovery of a photosensitizing PI3K inhibitor for tumor therapy: Design, synthesis and in vitro biological evaluation

In drug development, optical triggering of cancer therapy is increasingly used. Herein, we report a novel photosensitive PI3K inhibitor FD2157, which bears a photoprotecting moiety and can be efficiently cleaved with enhanced anticancer activity upon short-term light irradiation. In biological assessment, FD2157 exhibited remarkably enhanced anticancer activity in inhibition of PI3K pathway against melanoma cell lines upon light irradiation (4 min). Hence, this photosensitive PI3K inhibitor FD2157 may represent a valuable tool compound for studying the PI3K pathway and further optimization toward light-triggered cancer treatment.