1
|
Zhu H, Zhang Y, Li W, Huang N. A Comprehensive Survey of Prospective Structure-Based Virtual Screening for Early Drug Discovery in the Past Fifteen Years. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:15961. [PMID: 36555602 PMCID: PMC9781938 DOI: 10.3390/ijms232415961] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2022] [Revised: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 12/13/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Structure-based virtual screening (SBVS), also known as molecular docking, has been increasingly applied to discover small-molecule ligands based on the protein structures in the early stage of drug discovery. In this review, we comprehensively surveyed the prospective applications of molecular docking judged by solid experimental validations in the literature over the past fifteen years. Herein, we systematically analyzed the novelty of the targets and the docking hits, practical protocols of docking screening, and the following experimental validations. Among the 419 case studies we reviewed, most virtual screenings were carried out on widely studied targets, and only 22% were on less-explored new targets. Regarding docking software, GLIDE is the most popular one used in molecular docking, while the DOCK 3 series showed a strong capacity for large-scale virtual screening. Besides, the majority of identified hits are promising in structural novelty and one-quarter of the hits showed better potency than 1 μM, indicating that the primary advantage of SBVS is to discover new chemotypes rather than highly potent compounds. Furthermore, in most studies, only in vitro bioassays were carried out to validate the docking hits, which might limit the further characterization and development of the identified active compounds. Finally, several successful stories of SBVS with extensive experimental validations have been highlighted, which provide unique insights into future SBVS drug discovery campaigns.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hui Zhu
- Tsinghua Institute of Multidisciplinary Biomedical Research, Tsinghua University, Beijing 102206, China
- National Institute of Biological Sciences, 7 Science Park Road, Zhongguancun Life Science Park, Beijing 102206, China
| | - Yulin Zhang
- Tsinghua Institute of Multidisciplinary Biomedical Research, Tsinghua University, Beijing 102206, China
- National Institute of Biological Sciences, 7 Science Park Road, Zhongguancun Life Science Park, Beijing 102206, China
| | - Wei Li
- RPXDs (Suzhou) Co., Ltd., Suzhou 215028, China
| | - Niu Huang
- Tsinghua Institute of Multidisciplinary Biomedical Research, Tsinghua University, Beijing 102206, China
- National Institute of Biological Sciences, 7 Science Park Road, Zhongguancun Life Science Park, Beijing 102206, China
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Design and synthesis of novel orally selective and type II pan-TRK inhibitors to overcome mutations by property-driven optimization. Eur J Med Chem 2021; 224:113673. [PMID: 34303872 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2021.113673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2021] [Revised: 06/22/2021] [Accepted: 06/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Rare oncogenic NTRK gene fusions result in uncontrolled TRK signaling leading to various adult and pediatric solid tumors. Based on the architecture of our multi-targeted clinical candidate BPR1K871 (10), we designed and synthesized a series of quinazoline compounds as selective and orally bioavailable type II TRK inhibitors. Property-driven and lead optimization strategies informed by structure-activity relationship studies led to the identification of 39, which showed higher (about 15-fold) selectivity for TRKA over AURA and AURB, as well as potent cellular activity (IC50 = 56.4 nM) against the KM12 human colorectal cancer cell line. 39 also displayed good AUC and oral bioavailability (F = 27%), excellent in vivo efficacy (TGI = 64%) in a KM12 xenograft model, and broad-spectrum anti-TRK mutant potency (IC50 = 3.74-151.4 nM), especially in the double-mutant TRKA enzymatic assays. 39 is therefore proposed for further development as a next-generation, selective, and orally-administered type II TRK inhibitor.
Collapse
|
3
|
Yan W, Zhang L, Lv F, Moccia M, Carlomagno F, Landry C, Santoro M, Gosselet F, Frett B, Li HY. Discovery of pyrazolo-thieno[3,2-d]pyrimidinylamino-phenyl acetamides as type-II pan-tropomyosin receptor kinase (TRK) inhibitors: Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation. Eur J Med Chem 2021; 216:113265. [PMID: 33652352 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2021.113265] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2020] [Revised: 01/29/2021] [Accepted: 01/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Tropomyosin receptor kinase (TRK) represents an attractive oncology target for cancer therapy related to its critical role in cancer formation and progression. NTRK fusions are found to occur in 3.3% of lung cancers, 2.2% of colorectal cancers, 16.7% of thyroid cancers, 2.5% of glioblastomas, and 7.1% of pediatric gliomas. In this paper, we described the discovery of the type-II pan-TRK inhibitor 4c through the structure-based drug design strategy from the original hits 1b and 2b. Compound 4c exhibited excellent in vitro TRKA, TRKB, and TRKC kinase inhibitory activity and anti-proliferative activity against human colorectal carcinoma derived cell line KM12. In the NCI-60 human cancer cell lines screen, compound 4g demonstrated nearly 80% of growth inhibition for KM12, while only minimal inhibitory activity was observed for the remaining 59 cancer cell lines. Western blot analysis demonstrated that 4c and its urea cousin 4k suppressed the TPM3-TRKA autophosphorylation at the concentrations of 100 nM and 10 nM, respectively. The work presented that 2-(4-(thieno[3,2-d]pyrimidin-4-ylamino)phenyl)acetamides could serve as a novel scaffold for the discovery and development of type-II pan-TRK inhibitors for the treatment of TRK driven cancers.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Wei Yan
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, 72205, USA
| | - Lingtian Zhang
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, 72205, USA
| | - Fengping Lv
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, 72205, USA
| | - Marialuisa Moccia
- Dipartimento di Medicina Molecolare e Biotecnologie Mediche, Università Federico II, Via S Pansini 5, 80131, Naples, Italy
| | - Francesca Carlomagno
- Dipartimento di Medicina Molecolare e Biotecnologie Mediche, Università Federico II, Via S Pansini 5, 80131, Naples, Italy; Istituto di Endocrinologia e Oncologia Sperimentale Del CNR, Via S Pansini 5, 80131, Naples, Italy
| | - Christophe Landry
- Blood Brain Barrier Laboratory (LBHE), University of Artois, UR2465, F-62300, Lens, France
| | - Massimo Santoro
- Dipartimento di Medicina Molecolare e Biotecnologie Mediche, Università Federico II, Via S Pansini 5, 80131, Naples, Italy
| | - Fabien Gosselet
- Blood Brain Barrier Laboratory (LBHE), University of Artois, UR2465, F-62300, Lens, France
| | - Brendan Frett
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, 72205, USA
| | - Hong-Yu Li
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, 72205, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Subramanian G, Vairagoundar R, Bowen SJ, Roush N, Zachary T, Javens C, Williams T, Janssen A, Gonzales A. Synthetic inhibitor leads of human tropomyosin receptor kinase A ( hTrkA). RSC Med Chem 2020; 11:370-377. [PMID: 33479642 PMCID: PMC7536819 DOI: 10.1039/c9md00554d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2019] [Accepted: 12/22/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
In silico virtual screening followed by in vitro biochemical, biophysical, and cellular screening resulted in the identification of distinctly different hTrkA kinase domain inhibitor scaffolds. X-ray structural analysis of representative inhibitors bound to hTrkA kinase domain defined the binding mode and rationalized the mechanism of action. Preliminary assessment of the sub-type selectivity against the closest hTrkB isoform, and early ADME guided the progression of select inhibitor leads in the screening cascade. The possibility of the actives sustaining to known hTrkA resistance mutations assessed in silico offers initial guidance into the required multiparametric lead optimization to arrive at a clinical candidate.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Govindan Subramanian
- Veterinary Medicine Research & Development , Zoetis , 333 Portage Street , Kalamazoo , MI 49007 , USA .
| | - Rajendran Vairagoundar
- Veterinary Medicine Research & Development , Zoetis , 333 Portage Street , Kalamazoo , MI 49007 , USA .
| | - Scott J Bowen
- Veterinary Medicine Research & Development , Zoetis , 333 Portage Street , Kalamazoo , MI 49007 , USA .
| | - Nicole Roush
- Veterinary Medicine Research & Development , Zoetis , 333 Portage Street , Kalamazoo , MI 49007 , USA .
| | - Theresa Zachary
- Veterinary Medicine Research & Development , Zoetis , 333 Portage Street , Kalamazoo , MI 49007 , USA .
| | - Christopher Javens
- Veterinary Medicine Research & Development , Zoetis , 333 Portage Street , Kalamazoo , MI 49007 , USA .
| | - Tracey Williams
- Veterinary Medicine Research & Development , Zoetis , 333 Portage Street , Kalamazoo , MI 49007 , USA .
| | - Ann Janssen
- Veterinary Medicine Research & Development , Zoetis , 333 Portage Street , Kalamazoo , MI 49007 , USA .
| | - Andrea Gonzales
- Veterinary Medicine Research & Development , Zoetis , 333 Portage Street , Kalamazoo , MI 49007 , USA .
| |
Collapse
|