5-Keto-3-cyano-2,4-diaminothiophenes as selective maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase inhibitors
作者:Nicolas Boutard、Aleksandra Sabiniarz、Klaudia Czerwińska、Małgorzata Jarosz、Anna Cierpich、Ewa Kolasińska、Katarzyna Wiklik、Karolina Gluza、Claude Commandeur、Anna Buda、Agata Stasiowska、Aneta Bobowska、Mariusz Galek、Charles-Henry Fabritius、Marta Bugaj、Edyta Palacz、Andrzej Mazan、Adrian Zarębski、Karolina Krawczyńska、Małgorzata Żurawska、Przemysław Zawadzki、Mariusz Milik、Paulina Węgrzyn、Monika Dobrzańska、Krzysztof Brzózka、Piotr Kowalczyk
DOI:10.1016/j.bmcl.2018.12.051
日期:2019.2
Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK) is involved in several key cellular processes and displays increased levels of expression in numerous cancer classes (colon, breast, brain, ovary, prostate and lung). Although no selective MELK inhibitors have yet been approved, increasing evidence suggest that inhibition of MELK would constitute a promising approach for cancer therapy. A weak high-throughput screening hit (17, IC50 approximate to 5 mu M) with lead-like properties was optimized for MELK inhibition. The early identification of a plausible binding mode by molecular modeling offered guidance in the choice of modifications towards compound 52 which displayed a 98 nM IC50. A good selectivity profile was achieved for a representative member of the series (29) in a 486 protein kinase panel. Future elaboration of 52 has the potential to deliver compounds for further development with chemotherapeutic aims.