51
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Han X, Song N, Saidahmatov A, Wang P, Wang Y, Hu X, Kan W, Zhu W, Gao L, Zeng M, Wang Y, Li C, Li J, Liu H, Zhou Y, Wang J. Rational Design and Development of Novel CDK9 Inhibitors for the Treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia. J Med Chem 2021; 64:14647-14663. [PMID: 34477384 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c01148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
CDK9 is an essential drug target correlated to the development of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Starting from the hit compound 10, which was discovered through a screening of our in-house compound library, the structural modifications were carried out based on the bioisosterism and scaffold hopping strategies. Consequently, compound 37 displayed the optimal CDK9 inhibitory activity with an IC50 value of 5.41 nM, which was nearly 1500-fold higher than compound 10. In addition, compound 37 exhibited significant antiproliferative activity in broad cancer cell lines. Further investigation of in vivo properties demonstrated that compound 37 could be orally administrated with an acceptable bioavailability (F = 33.7%). In MV-4-11 subcutaneous xenograft mouse model, compound 37 (7.5 mg/kg) could significantly suppress the tumor progression with a T/C value of 27.80%. Compound 37 represents a promising lead compound for the development of a novel class of CDK9 inhibitors for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xu Han
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zu Chong Zhi Road, Shanghai 201203, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Ning Song
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zu Chong Zhi Road, Shanghai 201203, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, China.,School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, 393 Middle Huaxia Road, Shanghai 201210, China
| | - Abdusaid Saidahmatov
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zu Chong Zhi Road, Shanghai 201203, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Peipei Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zu Chong Zhi Road, Shanghai 201203, China
| | - Yong Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zu Chong Zhi Road, Shanghai 201203, China
| | - Xiaobei Hu
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zu Chong Zhi Road, Shanghai 201203, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, China.,Zhongshan Institute of Drug Discovery, Institution for Drug Discovery Innovation, Chinese Academy of Science, Zhongshan 528400, China
| | - Weijuan Kan
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zu Chong Zhi Road, Shanghai 201203, China
| | - Wei Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zu Chong Zhi Road, Shanghai 201203, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Lixin Gao
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zu Chong Zhi Road, Shanghai 201203, China
| | - Mingjie Zeng
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zu Chong Zhi Road, Shanghai 201203, China
| | - Yujie Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zu Chong Zhi Road, Shanghai 201203, China
| | - Chunpu Li
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zu Chong Zhi Road, Shanghai 201203, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Jia Li
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zu Chong Zhi Road, Shanghai 201203, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, China.,School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, 393 Middle Huaxia Road, Shanghai 201210, China.,Zhongshan Institute of Drug Discovery, Institution for Drug Discovery Innovation, Chinese Academy of Science, Zhongshan 528400, China
| | - Hong Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zu Chong Zhi Road, Shanghai 201203, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, China.,School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, 393 Middle Huaxia Road, Shanghai 201210, China
| | - Yubo Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zu Chong Zhi Road, Shanghai 201203, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, China.,Zhongshan Institute of Drug Discovery, Institution for Drug Discovery Innovation, Chinese Academy of Science, Zhongshan 528400, China
| | - Jiang Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zu Chong Zhi Road, Shanghai 201203, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, China
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52
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Hu Q, Poulose N, Girmay S, Helevä A, Doultsinos D, Gondane A, Steele RE, Liu X, Loda M, Liu S, Tang D, Mills IG, Itkonen HM. Inhibition of CDK9 activity compromises global splicing in prostate cancer cells. RNA Biol 2021; 18:722-729. [PMID: 34592899 DOI: 10.1080/15476286.2021.1983287] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Cyclin-dependent kinase 9 (CDK9) phosphorylates RNA polymerase II to promote productive transcription elongation. Here we show that short-term CDK9 inhibition affects the splicing of thousands of mRNAs. CDK9 inhibition impairs global splicing and there is no evidence for a coordinated response between the alternative splicing and the overall transcriptome. Alternative splicing is a feature of aggressive prostate cancer (CRPC) and enables the generation of the anti-androgen resistant version of the ligand-independent androgen receptor, AR-v7. We show that CDK9 inhibition results in the loss of AR and AR-v7 expression due to the defects in splicing, which sensitizes CRPC cells to androgen deprivation. Finally, we demonstrate that CDK9 expression increases as PC cells develop CRPC-phenotype both in vitro and also in patient samples. To conclude, here we show that CDK9 inhibition compromises splicing in PC cells, which can be capitalized on by targeting the PC-specific addiction androgen receptor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiang Hu
- Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, New York, USA
| | - Ninu Poulose
- Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK
| | - Samuel Girmay
- Department of Biochemistry and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Alma Helevä
- Department of Biochemistry and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Dimitrios Doultsinos
- Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK
| | - Aishwarya Gondane
- Department of Biochemistry and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Rebecca E Steele
- PCUK/Movember Centre of Excellence for Prostate Cancer Research, Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology (CCRCB), Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK.,Breast Cancer Now Toby Robins Research Centre, the Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK
| | - Xiaozhuo Liu
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, New York, USA
| | - Massimo Loda
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, New York, USA.,The Broad Institute of Harvard and Mit, Cambridge, Massachusetts.,The New York Genome Center, New York, New York, USA
| | - Song Liu
- Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, New York, USA
| | - Dean Tang
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, New York, USA
| | - Ian G Mills
- Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK.,PCUK/Movember Centre of Excellence for Prostate Cancer Research, Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology (CCRCB), Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK
| | - Harri M Itkonen
- Department of Biochemistry and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
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53
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Huang J, Wang X, Dong R, Liu X, Li H, Zhang T, Xu J, Liu C, Zhang Y, Hou S, Tang W, Lu T, Chen Y. Discovery of N-(4-(3-isopropyl-2-methyl-2 H-indazol-5-yl)pyrimidin-2-yl)-4-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)quinazolin-7-amine as a Novel, Potent, and Oral Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor against Haematological Malignancies. J Med Chem 2021; 64:12548-12571. [PMID: 34415148 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c00271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Hematologic malignancies (HM) start in blood forming tissue or in the cells of the immune system. Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) regulate cell cycle progression, and some of them control cellular transcription. CDK inhibition can trigger apoptosis and could be particularly useful in hematological malignancies. Herein, we describe our efforts toward the discovery of a novel series of quinazoline derivatives as CDK inhibitors. Intensive structural modifications lead to the identification of compound 37d as the most active inhibitors of CDKs 1, 2, 4, 8 and 9 with balancing potency and selectivity against CDKs. Further biological studies revealed that compound 37d can arrest the cell cycle and induce apoptosis via activating PARP and caspase 3. More importantly, compound 37d showed good antitumor efficacy in multiple HM mice xenograft models with no obvious toxicity. These results indicated that CDK 1, 2, 4, 8, and 9 inhibitors could be potentially used to treat certain hematologic malignancies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianhang Huang
- School of Sciences, China Pharmaceutical University, 639 Longmian Avenue, Nanjing 211198, PR China
| | - Xinren Wang
- School of Sciences, China Pharmaceutical University, 639 Longmian Avenue, Nanjing 211198, PR China
| | - Ruinan Dong
- School of Sciences, China Pharmaceutical University, 639 Longmian Avenue, Nanjing 211198, PR China
| | - Xiaoyue Liu
- School of Sciences, China Pharmaceutical University, 639 Longmian Avenue, Nanjing 211198, PR China
| | - Hongmei Li
- School of Sciences, China Pharmaceutical University, 639 Longmian Avenue, Nanjing 211198, PR China
| | - Tianyi Zhang
- School of Sciences, China Pharmaceutical University, 639 Longmian Avenue, Nanjing 211198, PR China
| | - Junyu Xu
- School of Sciences, China Pharmaceutical University, 639 Longmian Avenue, Nanjing 211198, PR China
| | - Chenhe Liu
- School of Sciences, China Pharmaceutical University, 639 Longmian Avenue, Nanjing 211198, PR China
| | - Yanmin Zhang
- School of Sciences, China Pharmaceutical University, 639 Longmian Avenue, Nanjing 211198, PR China
| | - Shaohua Hou
- School of Sciences, China Pharmaceutical University, 639 Longmian Avenue, Nanjing 211198, PR China
| | - Weifang Tang
- School of Sciences, China Pharmaceutical University, 639 Longmian Avenue, Nanjing 211198, PR China.,State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University, 24 Tongjiaxiang, Nanjing 210009, PR China
| | - Tao Lu
- School of Sciences, China Pharmaceutical University, 639 Longmian Avenue, Nanjing 211198, PR China.,State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University, 24 Tongjiaxiang, Nanjing 210009, PR China
| | - Yadong Chen
- School of Sciences, China Pharmaceutical University, 639 Longmian Avenue, Nanjing 211198, PR China
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54
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Saidahmatov A, Liang XW, Shi YQ, Han X, Liu H. Efficient Synthesis and Docking Analysis of Selective CDK9 Inhibitor NVP-2. PHARMACEUTICAL FRONTS 2021. [DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1735144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Graphical AbstractNVP-2 (1), a potent and selective inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinase 9 (CDK9), showed potent antitumor activity in preclinical studies. In this work, we designed and adopted a convergent synthetic route to efficiently synthesize NVP-2 (1). The key intermediate (7) was synthesized from malononitrile (2) and 1-bromo-2-(2-bromoethoxy)ethane (3) by successive cyclization, reduction, nucleophilic substitution with 2-bromo-6-fluoropyridine, and Suzuki–Miyaura reaction with (5-chloro-2-fluoropyridin-4-yl)boronic acid. Another key intermediate (11) was synthesized from (S)-1-methoxypropan-2-ol (8) by reaction with TsCl, electrophilic substitution reaction with tert-butyl ((1r,4r)-4-aminocyclohexyl)carbamate, and then by deprotection of Boc. Finally, a substitution reaction by the key intermediates (7) and (11) to afford the target product NVP-2 (1). The reaction conditions of the whole synthesis process were simple and mild, free of harsh conditions such as the microwave reaction and dangerous reagents in the original patent, and realized the efficient synthesis of NVP-2. In addition, we analyzed the binding mode of NVP-2 in the active pocket of CDK9 to provide reasonable design ideas for subsequent discovery of novel CDK9 inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abdusaid Saidahmatov
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
| | - Xue-Wu Liang
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
| | - Yu-Qiang Shi
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
| | - Xu Han
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
| | - Hong Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
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55
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Yu F, Cai M, Shao L, Zhang J. Targeting Protein Kinases Degradation by PROTACs. Front Chem 2021; 9:679120. [PMID: 34277564 PMCID: PMC8279777 DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2021.679120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2021] [Accepted: 06/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Kinase dysregulation is greatly associated with cell proliferation, migration and survival, indicating the importance of kinases as therapeutic targets for anticancer drug development. However, traditional kinase inhibitors binding to catalytic or allosteric sites are associated with significant challenges. The emergence of resistance and targeting difficult-to-degrade and multi-domain proteins are significant limiting factors affecting the efficacy of targeted anticancer drugs. The next-generation treatment approaches seem to have overcome these concerns, and the use of proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC) technology is one such method. PROTACs bind to proteins of interest and recruit E3 ligase for degrading the whole target protein via the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. This review provides a detailed summary of the most recent signs of progress in PROTACs targeting different kinases, primarily focusing on new chemical entities in medicinal chemistry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fei Yu
- Medical School of Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, China
| | - Ming Cai
- Medical School of Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, China
| | - Liang Shao
- Medical School of Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, China
| | - Jihong Zhang
- Medical School of Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, China
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56
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Ranjan A, Pang Y, Butler M, Merchant M, Kim O, Yu G, Su YT, Gilbert MR, Levens D, Wu J. Targeting CDK9 for the Treatment of Glioblastoma. Cancers (Basel) 2021; 13:3039. [PMID: 34207158 PMCID: PMC8234280 DOI: 10.3390/cancers13123039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2021] [Revised: 06/15/2021] [Accepted: 06/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Glioblastoma is the most common and aggressive primary malignant brain tumor, and more than two-thirds of patients with glioblastoma die within two years of diagnosis. The challenges of treating this disease mainly include genetic and microenvironmental features that often render the tumor resistant to treatments. Despite extensive research efforts, only a small number of drugs tested in clinical trials have become therapies for patients. Targeting cyclin-dependent kinase 9 (CDK9) is an emerging therapeutic approach that has the potential to overcome the challenges in glioblastoma management. Here, we discuss how CDK9 inhibition can impact transcription, metabolism, DNA damage repair, epigenetics, and the immune response to facilitate an anti-tumor response. Moreover, we discuss small-molecule inhibitors of CDK9 in clinical trials and future perspectives on the use of CDK9 inhibitors in treating patients with glioblastoma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alice Ranjan
- Neuro-Oncology Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA; (A.R.); (Y.P.); (M.B.); (M.M.); (O.K.); (G.Y.); (Y.-T.S.); (M.R.G.)
| | - Ying Pang
- Neuro-Oncology Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA; (A.R.); (Y.P.); (M.B.); (M.M.); (O.K.); (G.Y.); (Y.-T.S.); (M.R.G.)
| | - Madison Butler
- Neuro-Oncology Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA; (A.R.); (Y.P.); (M.B.); (M.M.); (O.K.); (G.Y.); (Y.-T.S.); (M.R.G.)
| | - Mythili Merchant
- Neuro-Oncology Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA; (A.R.); (Y.P.); (M.B.); (M.M.); (O.K.); (G.Y.); (Y.-T.S.); (M.R.G.)
| | - Olga Kim
- Neuro-Oncology Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA; (A.R.); (Y.P.); (M.B.); (M.M.); (O.K.); (G.Y.); (Y.-T.S.); (M.R.G.)
| | - Guangyang Yu
- Neuro-Oncology Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA; (A.R.); (Y.P.); (M.B.); (M.M.); (O.K.); (G.Y.); (Y.-T.S.); (M.R.G.)
| | - Yu-Ting Su
- Neuro-Oncology Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA; (A.R.); (Y.P.); (M.B.); (M.M.); (O.K.); (G.Y.); (Y.-T.S.); (M.R.G.)
| | - Mark R. Gilbert
- Neuro-Oncology Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA; (A.R.); (Y.P.); (M.B.); (M.M.); (O.K.); (G.Y.); (Y.-T.S.); (M.R.G.)
| | - David Levens
- Laboratory of Pathology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA;
| | - Jing Wu
- Neuro-Oncology Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA; (A.R.); (Y.P.); (M.B.); (M.M.); (O.K.); (G.Y.); (Y.-T.S.); (M.R.G.)
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57
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Vervoort SJ, Welsh SA, Devlin JR, Barbieri E, Knight DA, Offley S, Bjelosevic S, Costacurta M, Todorovski I, Kearney CJ, Sandow JJ, Fan Z, Blyth B, McLeod V, Vissers JHA, Pavic K, Martin BP, Gregory G, Demosthenous E, Zethoven M, Kong IY, Hawkins ED, Hogg SJ, Kelly MJ, Newbold A, Simpson KJ, Kauko O, Harvey KF, Ohlmeyer M, Westermarck J, Gray N, Gardini A, Johnstone RW. The PP2A-Integrator-CDK9 axis fine-tunes transcription and can be targeted therapeutically in cancer. Cell 2021; 184:3143-3162.e32. [PMID: 34004147 PMCID: PMC8567840 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.04.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 86] [Impact Index Per Article: 28.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2020] [Revised: 11/27/2020] [Accepted: 04/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Gene expression by RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) is tightly controlled by cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) at discrete checkpoints during the transcription cycle. The pausing checkpoint following transcription initiation is primarily controlled by CDK9. We discovered that CDK9-mediated, RNAPII-driven transcription is functionally opposed by a protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) complex that is recruited to transcription sites by the Integrator complex subunit INTS6. PP2A dynamically antagonizes phosphorylation of key CDK9 substrates including DSIF and RNAPII-CTD. Loss of INTS6 results in resistance to tumor cell death mediated by CDK9 inhibition, decreased turnover of CDK9 phospho-substrates, and amplification of acute oncogenic transcriptional responses. Pharmacological PP2A activation synergizes with CDK9 inhibition to kill both leukemic and solid tumor cells, providing therapeutic benefit in vivo. These data demonstrate that fine control of gene expression relies on the balance between kinase and phosphatase activity throughout the transcription cycle, a process dysregulated in cancer that can be exploited therapeutically.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephin J Vervoort
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne 3000, VIC, Australia; The Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, VIC, Australia.
| | - Sarah A Welsh
- The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics Graduate Group, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Jennifer R Devlin
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne 3000, VIC, Australia; The Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, VIC, Australia
| | | | - Deborah A Knight
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne 3000, VIC, Australia; The Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, VIC, Australia
| | - Sarah Offley
- The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Cell and Molecular Biology Graduate Group, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Stefan Bjelosevic
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne 3000, VIC, Australia; The Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, VIC, Australia
| | - Matteo Costacurta
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne 3000, VIC, Australia; The Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, VIC, Australia
| | - Izabela Todorovski
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne 3000, VIC, Australia; The Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, VIC, Australia
| | - Conor J Kearney
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne 3000, VIC, Australia; The Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, VIC, Australia
| | - Jarrod J Sandow
- The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Parkville 3010, VIC, Australia; Department of Medical Biology, University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, VIC, Australia
| | - Zheng Fan
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne 3000, VIC, Australia; The Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, VIC, Australia
| | - Benjamin Blyth
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne 3000, VIC, Australia
| | - Victoria McLeod
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne 3000, VIC, Australia
| | - Joseph H A Vissers
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne 3000, VIC, Australia; The Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, VIC, Australia; Centre for Cancer Research and Department of Clinical Pathology, University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, VIC, Australia
| | - Karolina Pavic
- Turku Bioscience Centre, University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University, Turku FI-20014, Finland; Institute of Biomedicine, University of Turku, Turku FI-20014, Finland
| | - Ben P Martin
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne 3000, VIC, Australia; The Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, VIC, Australia
| | - Gareth Gregory
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne 3000, VIC, Australia; The Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, VIC, Australia; School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, Monash University, Clayton 3168, VIC, Australia
| | | | - Magnus Zethoven
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne 3000, VIC, Australia
| | - Isabella Y Kong
- The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Parkville 3010, VIC, Australia; Department of Medical Biology, University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, VIC, Australia
| | - Edwin D Hawkins
- The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Parkville 3010, VIC, Australia; Department of Medical Biology, University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, VIC, Australia
| | - Simon J Hogg
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne 3000, VIC, Australia; The Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, VIC, Australia
| | - Madison J Kelly
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne 3000, VIC, Australia; The Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, VIC, Australia
| | - Andrea Newbold
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne 3000, VIC, Australia; The Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, VIC, Australia
| | | | - Otto Kauko
- Turku Bioscience Centre, University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University, Turku FI-20014, Finland; Institute of Biomedicine, University of Turku, Turku FI-20014, Finland
| | - Kieran F Harvey
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne 3000, VIC, Australia; The Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, VIC, Australia; Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, and Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton 3168, VIC, Australia
| | - Michael Ohlmeyer
- Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029, USA; Atux Iskay LLC, Plainsboro, NJ 08536, USA
| | - Jukka Westermarck
- Turku Bioscience Centre, University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University, Turku FI-20014, Finland; Institute of Biomedicine, University of Turku, Turku FI-20014, Finland
| | | | | | - Ricky W Johnstone
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne 3000, VIC, Australia; The Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, VIC, Australia.
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58
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Shao H, Foley DW, Huang S, Abbas AY, Lam F, Gershkovich P, Bradshaw TD, Pepper C, Fischer PM, Wang S. Structure-based design of highly selective 2,4,5-trisubstituted pyrimidine CDK9 inhibitors as anti-cancer agents. Eur J Med Chem 2021; 214:113244. [PMID: 33581551 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2021.113244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2020] [Revised: 01/25/2021] [Accepted: 01/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) are a family of Ser/Thr kinases involved in cell cycle and transcriptional regulation. CDK9 regulates transcriptional elongation and this unique property has made it a potential target for several diseases. Due to the conserved ATP binding site, designing selective CDK9 inhibitors has been challenging. Here we report our continued efforts in the optimization of 2,4,5-tri-substituted pyrimidine compounds as potent and selective CDK9 inhibitors. The most selective compound 30m was >100-fold selective for CDK9 over CDK1 and CDK2. These compounds showed broad anti-proliferative activities in various solid tumour cell lines and patient-derived chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) cells. Decreased phosphorylation of the carboxyl terminal domain (CTD) of RNAPII at Ser-2 and down-regulation of anti-apoptotic protein Mcl-1 were confirmed in both the ovarian cancer model A2780 and patient-derived CLL cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hao Shao
- School of Pharmacy and Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - David W Foley
- School of Pharmacy and Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Shiliang Huang
- School of Pharmacy and Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Abdullahi Y Abbas
- School of Pharmacy and Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Frankie Lam
- Drug Discovery and Development, Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, 5001, Australia
| | - Pavel Gershkovich
- School of Pharmacy and Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Tracey D Bradshaw
- School of Pharmacy and Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Chris Pepper
- Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 9PX, UK
| | - Peter M Fischer
- School of Pharmacy and Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK.
| | - Shudong Wang
- School of Pharmacy and Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK; Drug Discovery and Development, Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, 5001, Australia.
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Targeting Bfl-1 via acute CDK9 inhibition overcomes intrinsic BH3-mimetic resistance in lymphomas. Blood 2020; 137:2947-2957. [PMID: 33259592 DOI: 10.1182/blood.2020008528] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2020] [Accepted: 11/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
BH3 mimetics like venetoclax target prosurvival Bcl-2 family proteins and are important therapeutics in the treatment of hematological malignancies. We demonstrate that endogenous Bfl-1 expression can render preclinical lymphoma tumor models insensitive to Mcl-1 and Bcl-2 inhibitors. However, suppression of Bfl-1 alone was insufficient to fully induce apoptosis in Bfl-1-expressing lymphomas, highlighting the need for targeting additional prosurvival proteins in this context. Importantly, we demonstrated that cyclin-dependent kinase 9 (CDK9) inhibitors rapidly downregulate both Bfl-1 and Mcl-1, inducing apoptosis in BH3-mimetic-resistant lymphoma cell lines in vitro and driving in vivo tumor regressions in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patient-derived xenograft models expressing Bfl-1. These data underscore the need to clinically develop CDK9 inhibitors, like AZD4573, for the treatment of lymphomas using Bfl-1 as a selection biomarker.
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