Development of a novel class of B-RafV600E-selective inhibitors through virtual screening and hierarchical hit optimization
作者:Xiangqian Kong、Jie Qin、Zeng Li、Adina Vultur、Linjiang Tong、Enguang Feng、Geena Rajan、Shien Liu、Junyan Lu、Zhongjie Liang、Mingyue Zheng、Weiliang Zhu、Hualiang Jiang、Meenhard Herlyn、Hong Liu、Ronen Marmorstein、Cheng Luo
DOI:10.1039/c2ob26081f
日期:——
Oncogenic mutations in critical nodes of cellular signaling pathways have been associated with tumorigenesis and progression. The B-Raf protein kinase, a key hub in the canonical MAPK signaling cascade, is mutated in a broad range of human cancers and especially in malignant melanoma. The most prevalent B-RafV600E mutant exhibits elevated kinase activity and results in constitutive activation of the MAPK pathway, thus making it a promising drug target for cancer therapy. Herein, we describe the development of novel B-RafV600E selective inhibitors via multi-step virtual screening and hierarchical hit optimization. Nine hit compounds with low micromolar IC50 values were identified as B-RafV600E inhibitors through virtual screening. Subsequent scaffold-based analogue searching and medicinal chemistry efforts significantly improved both the inhibitor potency and oncogene selectivity. In particular, compounds 22f and 22q possess nanomolar IC50 values with selectivity for B-RafV600Ein vitro and exclusive cytotoxicity against B-RafV600E harboring cancer cells.
细胞信号通路关键节点的致癌突变与肿瘤的发生和发展有关。B-Raf蛋白激酶是典型MAPK信号级联的关键枢纽,在多种人类癌症,尤其是恶性黑色素瘤中发生突变。最常见的B-RafV600E突变体表现出较高的激酶活性,导致MAPK通路的组成性激活,从而使其成为一种很有希望的癌症治疗药物靶点。在此,我们介绍了通过多步虚拟筛选和分层命中优化开发新型 B-RafV600E 选择性抑制剂的情况。通过虚拟筛选,我们确定了九种具有低微摩尔 IC50 值的命中化合物作为 B-RafV600E 抑制剂。随后的基于支架的类似物搜索和药物化学工作显著提高了抑制剂的效力和对癌基因的选择性。其中,22f 和 22q 化合物的 IC50 值达到纳摩尔级,在体外对 B-RafV600E 具有选择性,对携带 B-RafV600E 的癌细胞具有独特的细胞毒性。