Formula C30H30Cl2N4O4 | Molar mass 581.4896 g/mol | |
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Nutlins are cis-imidazoline analogs which inhibit the interaction between mdm2 and tumour suppressor p53, and which were discovered by screening a chemical library by Vassilev et al. Nutlin-1, Nutlin-2 and Nutlin-3 were all identified in the same screen; however, Nutlin-3 is the compound most commonly used in anti-cancer studies. Inhibiting the interaction between mdm2 and p53 stabilizes p53, and is thought to selectively induce a growth-inhibiting state called senescence in cancer cells. These compounds are therefore thought to work best on tumors that contain normal or "wild-type" p53. Nutlin-3 has been shown to affect the production of p53 within minutes.
The more potent of the two enantiomers, (−)-Nutlin-3, can now be synthesized in a highly enantioselective fashion.