Inhibition of hydrogen peroxide-induced necrotic cell death with 3-amino-2-indolylmaleimide derivatives

Novel analogs of indolylmaleimide derivatives (IM derivatives) were synthesized and tested for cell death-inhibitory activity. 2-(1H-Indol-3-yl)-3-pentylamino-maleimide IM-54 was the most effective cell death inhibitor among the compounds tested. IM-54 inhibited necrotic cell death induced by H2O2, but not apoptotic cell death induced by etoposide. These results indicated that this novel cell death inhibitor is distinct from the well-known caspase inhibitor, Z-VAD, which can block apoptotic cell death, but not necrotic cell death. IM-54 is expected to be a powerful bioprobe for clarifying the unique signaling pathway of necrotic cell death.