Discovery of a novel series of 4-quinolone JNK inhibitors

Advances in Immunosuppressive Agents Based on Signal Pathway

Immune abnormality involves in various diseases, such as infection, allergic diseases, autoimmune diseases, as well as transplantation. Several signal pathways have been demonstrated to play a central role in the immune response, including JAK/STAT, NF-κB, PI3K/AKT-mTOR, MAPK, and Keap1/Nrf2/ARE pathway, in which multiple targets have been used to develop immunosuppressive agents. In recent years, varieties of immunosuppressive agents have been approved for clinical use, such as the JAK inhibitor tofacitinib and the mTOR inhibitor everolimus, which have shown good therapeutic effects. Additionally, many immunosuppressive agents are still in clinical trials or preclinical studies. In this review, we classified the immunosuppressive agents according to the immunopharmacological mechanisms, and summarized the phase of immunosuppressive agents.

Unraveling the Design and Discovery of c-Jun N-Terminal Kinase Inhibitors and Their Therapeutic Potential in Human Diseases

c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNKs), members of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family, are encoded by three genes: jnk1, jnk2, and jnk3. JNKs are involved in the pathogenesis and development of many diseases, such as neurodegenerative diseases, inflammation, and cancers. Therefore, JNKs have become important therapeutic targets. Many JNK inhibitors have been discovered, and some have been introduced into clinical trials. However, the study of isoform-selective JNK inhibitors is still a challenging task. To further develop novel JNK inhibitors with clinical value, a comprehensive understanding of JNKs and their corresponding inhibitors is required. In this Perspective, we introduced the JNK signaling pathways and reviewed different chemical types of JNK inhibitors, focusing on their structure-activity relationships and biological activities. The challenges and strategies for the development of JNK inhibitors are also discussed. It is hoped that this Perspective will provide valuable references for the development of novel selective JNK inhibitors.

Recent Advances in c-Jun N-Terminal Kinase (JNK) Inhibitors

c-Jun N-Terminal Kinases (JNKs), members of the Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway, play a key role in the pathogenesis of many diseases including cancer, inflammation, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and diabetes. Therefore, JNKs represent new and excellent target by therapeutic agents. Many JNK inhibitors based on different molecular scaffolds have been discovered in the past decade. However, only a few of them have advanced to clinical trials. The major obstacle for the development of JNK inhibitors as therapeutic agents is the JNKisoform selectivity. In this review, we describe the recent development of JNK inhibitors, including ATP competitive and ATP non-competitive (allosteric) inhibitors, bidentatebinding inhibitors and dual inhibitors, the challenges, and the future direction of JNK inhibitors as potential therapeutic agents.

C-Jun N-terminal kinase inhibitors: Structural insight into kinase-inhibitor complexes

The activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNKs) plays an important role in physiological processes including neuronal function, immune activity, and development, and thus, JNKs have been a therapeutic target for various diseases such as neurodegenerative diseases, inflammation, and cancer. Efforts to develop JNK-specific inhibitors have been ongoing for several decades. In this process, the structures of JNK in complex with various inhibitors have contributed greatly to the design of novel compounds and to the elucidation of structure-activity relationships. Almost 100 JNK structures with various compounds have been determined. Here we summarize the information gained from these structures and classify the inhibitors into several groups based on the binding mode. These groups include inhibitors in the open conformation and closed conformation of the gatekeeper residue, non-ATP site binders, peptides, covalent inhibitors, and type II kinase inhibitors. Through this work, deep insight into the interaction of inhibitors with JNKs can be gained and this will be helpful for developing novel, potent, and selective inhibitors.

Selective inhibitors for JNK signalling: a potential targeted therapy in cancer

c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signalling regulates both cancer cell apoptosis and survival. Emerging evidence show that JNK promoted tumour progression is involved in various cancers, that include human pancreatic-, lung-, and breast cancer. The pro-survival JNK oncoprotein functions in a cell context- and cell type-specific manner to affect signal pathways that modulate tumour initiation, proliferation, and migration. JNK is therefore considered a potential oncogenic target for cancer therapy. Currently, designing effective and specific JNK inhibitors is an active area in the cancer treatment. Some ATP-competitive inhibitors of JNK, such as SP600125 and AS601245, are widely used in vitro; however, this type of inhibitor lacks specificity as they indiscriminately inhibit phosphorylation of all JNK substrates. Moreover, JNK has at least three isoforms with different functions in cancer development and identifying specific selective inhibitors is crucial for the development of targeted therapy in cancer. Some selective inhibitors of JNK are identified; however, their clinical studies in cancer are relatively less conducted. In this review, we first summarised the function of JNK signalling in cancer progression; there is a focus on the discussion of the novel selective JNK inhibitors as potential targeting therapy in cancer. Finally, we have offered a future perspective of the selective JNK inhibitors in the context of cancer therapies. We hope this review will help to further understand the role of JNK in cancer progression and provide insight into the design of novel selective JNK inhibitors in cancer treatment.

Synthesis, biological evaluation, and molecular modeling of 11H-indeno[1,2-b]quinoxalin-11-one derivatives and tryptanthrin-6-oxime as c-Jun N-terminal kinase inhibitors

c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNKs) play a central role in many physiologic and pathologic processes. We synthesized novel 11H-indeno[1,2-b]quinoxalin-11-one oxime analogs and tryptanthrin-6-oxime (indolo[2,1-b]quinazoline-6,12-dion-6-oxime) and evaluated their effects on JNK activity. Several compounds exhibited sub-micromolar JNK binding affinity and were selective for JNK1/JNK3 versus JNK2. The most potent compounds were 10c (11H-indeno[1,2-b]quinoxalin-11-one O-(O-ethylcarboxymethyl) oxime) and tryptanthrin-6-oxime, which had dissociation constants (K_d) for JNK1 and JNK3 of 22 and 76 nM and 150 and 275 nM, respectively. Molecular modeling suggested a mode of binding interaction at the JNK catalytic site and that the selected oxime derivatives were potentially competitive JNK inhibitors. JNK binding activity of the compounds correlated with their ability to inhibit lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nuclear factor-κB/activating protein 1 (NF-κB/AP-1) activation in human monocytic THP-1Blue cells and interleukin-6 (IL-6) production by human MonoMac-6 cells. Thus, oximes with indenoquinoxaline and tryptanthrin nuclei can serve as specific small-molecule modulators for mechanistic studies of JNK, as well as potential leads for the development of anti-inflammatory drugs.

JNK pathway signaling: a novel and smarter therapeutic targets for various biological diseases

JNK pathway regulates various physiological processes including inflammatory responses, cell differentiation, cell proliferation, cell death, cell survival and expression of proteins. Deregulation of JNK is linked with various diseases including neurodegenerative disease, autoimmune disease, diabetes, cancer, cardiac hypertrophy and asthma. Three distinct genes JNK1, JNK2 and JNK3 have been identified as regulator of JNK pathway. JNK1 and JNK2 have broad tissue distribution and play a potential role in insulin resistance, inflammation and cell signaling. JNK3 is predominantly found in the CNS neurons, making it an attractive target for neurodegenerative disorders. In this review, we summarize the evidence supporting JNK as a potent therapeutic target, and small molecules from various chemical classes as JNK inhibitors.

Nonantibiotic Effects of Fluoroquinolones in Mammalian Cells

Fluoroquinolones (FQ) are powerful broad-spectrum antibiotics whose side effects include renal damage and, strangely, tendinopathies. The pathological mechanisms underlying these toxicities are poorly understood. Here, we show that the FQ drugs norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin, and enrofloxacin are powerful iron chelators comparable with deferoxamine, a clinically useful iron-chelating agent. We show that iron chelation by FQ leads to epigenetic effects through inhibition of α-ketoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases that require iron as a co-factor. Three dioxygenases were examined in HEK293 cells treated with FQ. At sub-millimolar concentrations, these antibiotics inhibited jumonji domain histone demethylases, TET DNA demethylases, and collagen prolyl 4-hydroxylases, leading to accumulation of methylated histones and DNA and inhibition of proline hydroxylation in collagen, respectively. These effects may explain FQ-induced nephrotoxicity and tendinopathy. By the same reasoning, dioxygenase inhibition by FQ was predicted to stabilize transcription factor HIF-1α by inhibition of the oxygen-dependent hypoxia-inducible transcription factor prolyl hydroxylation. In dramatic contrast to this prediction, HIF-1α protein was eliminated by FQ treatment. We explored possible mechanisms for this unexpected effect and show that FQ inhibit HIF-1α mRNA translation. Thus, FQ antibiotics induce global epigenetic changes, inhibit collagen maturation, and block HIF-1α accumulation. We suggest that these mechanisms explain the classic renal toxicities and peculiar tendinopathies associated with FQ antibiotics.

Inhibitors of c-Jun N-terminal kinases: an update

The c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNKs) are serine/threonine kinases implicated in the pathogenesis of various diseases. Recent advances in the development of novel inhibitors of JNKs will be reviewed. Significant progress in the design of JNK inhibitors displaying selectivity versus other kinases has been achieved within the past 4 years. However, the development of isoform selective JNK inhibitors is still an open task.

Recent progress in the design, study, and development of c-Jun N-terminal kinase inhibitors as anticancer agents

The c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) family, with its three members JNK1, JNK2, and JNK3, is a subfamily of mitogen-activated protein kinases. Involved in many aspects of cellular processes, JNK has been also associated with pathological states such as neurodegenerative diseases, inflammation, and cancers. In oncology, each isoform plays a distinct role depending on the context of the targeted tissue/organ, the tumor stage, and, most likely, the signaling pathway activated upstream. Consequently, the current challenge in finding new successful anti-JNK therapies is to design isoform-selective inhibitors of the JNKs. In this review, a particular focus is given to the JNK inhibitors that have been developed thus far when examining 3D structures of various JNK-inhibitor complexes. Using current data regarding structure-activity relationships and medicinal chemistry approaches, our objective is to provide a better understanding of the design and development of selective JNK inhibitors in the present and future.

Identification of an Adamantyl Azaquinolone JNK Selective Inhibitor

3-[4-((1S,2S,3R,5S,7S)-5-Hydroxyadamantan-2-ylcarbamoyl)benzyl]-4-oxo-1-phenyl-1,4-dihydro-[1,8]naphthyridine-2-carboxylic acid methyl ester (4) was identified as a novel, druglike and selective quinolone pan JNK inhibitor. In this communication, some of the structure-activity relationship of the azaquinolone analogues leading to 4 is discussed. The focus is on how changes at the amide functionality affected the biochemical potency, cellular potency, metabolic properties, and solubility of this class of JNK inhibitors. Optimization of these properties led to the identification of the adamantyl analogue, 4. 4 achieved proof of mechanism in both rat and mouse TNF-α challenge models.