The androgen receptor (AR), a ligand-dependent transcription factor that regulates the expression of a series of downstream target genes after the binding of androgens, has been a target for the discovery of drugs used to treat prostate cancer. Prostate cancer always progresses to castration-resistant prostate cancer after a period of androgen deprivation therapy. Thus, developing potent androgen receptor antagonists for the therapy of castration-resistant prostate cancer possesses great significance. This review summarizes the preclinical development of androgen receptor antagonists, conventional androgen receptor antagonists that competitively bind to the ligand binding domain of the androgen receptor and coactivator antagonists of the androgen receptor, including both activation function-2 antagonists and binding function-3 antagonists. We hope that this review can help other researchers find new scaffolds and sites for the treatment of prostate cancer.
Keywords: Activation function-2; Androgen receptor antagonist; Binding function-3; Ligand binding domain; Prostate cancer.
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