Discovery of Potent, Selective Stem Cell Factor Receptor/Platelet Derived Growth Factor Receptor Alpha (c-KIT/PDGFRα) Dual Inhibitor for the Treatment of Imatinib-Resistant Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GISTs)

New one-pot synthesis of 4-arylpyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridin-6-ones based on 5-aminopyrazoles and azlactones

An effective one-pot strategy was developed for the synthesis of 4-arylpyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridin-6-ones from pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridin-6-ones, obtained by reacting 5-aminopyrazoles with 4-arylidene-2-phenyloxazol-5(4H)-ones (azlactones) under solvent-free conditions, through subsequent elimination of a benzamide molecule in a superbasic medium (t-BuOK/DMSO). The fluorescent properties of the synthesized compounds were studied. 4-Arylpyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridin-6-ones luminesce in the region of 409-440 nm with a quantum yield of 0.09-0.23 when irradiated with UV light.

Small Molecule c-KIT Inhibitors for the Treatment of Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors: A Review on Synthesis, Design Strategies, and Structure-Activity Relationship (SAR)

The proto-oncogenic protein, c-KIT, plays a crucial role in regulating cellular transformation and differentiation processes, such as proliferation, survival, adhesion, and chemotaxis. The overexpression of, and mutations, in c-KIT can lead to its dysregulation and promote various human cancers, particularly gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs); approximately 80-85% of cases are associated with oncogenic mutations in the KIT gene. Inhibition of c-KIT has emerged as a promising therapeutic target for GISTs. However, the currently approved drugs are associated with resistance and significant side effects, highlighting the urgent need to develop highly selective c-KIT inhibitors that are not affected by these mutations for GISTs. Herein, the recent research efforts in medicinal chemistry aimed at developing potent small-molecule c-KIT inhibitors with high kinase selectivity for GISTs are discussed from a structure-activity relationship perspective. Moreover, the synthetic pathways, pharmacokinetic properties, and binding patterns of the inhibitors are also discussed to facilitate future development of more potent and pharmacokinetically stable small-molecule c-KIT inhibitors.

Identification of Thiazolo[5,4-b]pyridine Derivatives as c-KIT Inhibitors for Overcoming Imatinib Resistance

c-KIT is a promising therapeutic target against gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST). In order to identify novel c-KIT inhibitors capable of overcoming imatinib resistance, we synthesized 31 novel thiazolo[5,4-b]pyridine derivatives and performed SAR studies. We observed that, among these substances, 6r is capable of inhibiting significantly c-KIT and suppressing substantially proliferation of GIST-T1 cancer cells. It is of note that 6r is potent against a c-KIT V560G/D816V double mutant resistant to imatinib. Compared with sunitinib, 6r possesses higher differential cytotoxicity on c-KIT D816V Ba/F3 cells relative to parental Ba/F3 cells. In addition, kinase panel profiling reveals that 6r has reasonable kinase selectivity. It was found that 6r remarkably attenuates proliferation of cancer cells via blockade of c-KIT downstream signaling, and induction of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. Furthermore, 6r notably suppresses migration and invasion, as well as anchorage-independent growth of GIST-T1 cells. This study provides useful SAR information for the design of novel c-KIT inhibitors overcoming imatinib-resistance.

One-Pot Synthesis of Novel Functionalized Fused Pyridine Derivatives via Consecutive Pyrrolidine Ring-Closure/Ring-Opening/Formal Aza-Diels-Alder Reactions

In this article, we report a highly regioselective method for the synthesis of new fused pyridine derivatives─2,3-disubstituted quinolines and 1,2-dihydro-3H-pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridin-3-one derivatives. The method is based on the reaction of 1,1-diethoxybutane derivatives with aromatic and heterocyclic nucleophiles. The isolated compounds are similar to the products formed as a result of the Debner-Miller reaction. However, we have shown that the interaction of 1,1-diethoxybutane derivatives with (hetero)aromatic amines proceeds according to a mechanism different from that of the Doebner-Miller reaction. The proposed method is distinguished by the possibility of obtaining a wide range of substituted quinolines and 1,2-dihydro-3H-pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridin-3-one derivatives in one step, the absence of the need to use expensive metal-containing catalysts, and a high product yield.

Access to 3-Amino-[1,2,4]-triazolo Pyridines and Related Heterocycles via Electrochemically Induced Desulfurative Cyclization

An efficient, one-pot approach has been established for synthesizing a wide range of 3-amino-[1,2,4]-triazolo pyridines and related heterocycles from the electrochemically induced desulfurative cyclization of 2-hydrazinopyridines with isothiocyanates. The protocol allows for the formation of C-N bonds under simple conditions without transition metals or external oxidants. The practicability of this strategy is demonstrated by its broad substrate scope, good functional group compatibility, and gram-scale synthesis. The late-stage modification of 3-amino-[1,2,4]-triazolo pyridines enables us to obtain several molecules with potent anticancer activity.

A holistic view on c-Kit in cancer: Structure, signaling, pathophysiology and its inhibitors

Receptor tyrosine kinases play an important role in many cellular processes, and their dysregulation leads to diseases, most importantly cancer. One such receptor tyrosine kinase is c-Kit, a type-III receptor tyrosine kinase, which is involved in various intracellular signaling pathways. The role of different mutant isoforms of c-Kit has been established in several types of cancers. Accordingly, promising c-Kit inhibition results have been reported for the treatment of different cancers (e.g., gastrointestinal stromal tumors, melanoma, acute myeloid leukemia, and other tumors). Therefore, lots of effort has been put to target c-Kit for the treatment of cancer. Here, we provide a comprehensive compilation to provide an insight into c-Kit inhibitor discovery. This compilation provides key information regarding the structure, signaling pathways related to c-Kit, and, more importantly, pharmacophores, binding modes, and SAR analysis for almost all small-molecule heterocycles reported for their c-Kit inhibitory activity. This work could be used as a guide in understanding the basic requirements for targeting c-Kit, and how the selectivity and efficacy of the molecules have been achieved till today.

Recent Advances in the Discovery of Multitargeted Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors as Anticancer Agents

The treatment of cancer has been one of the most significant challenges for the medical field. Further research on the signal transduction pathway of tumor cells is driving the rapid development of antitumor agents targeting tyrosine kinases. However, most of the currently approved tyrosine kinase inhibitors based on the "single target/single drug" design are becoming less and less effective in the treatment of complex, heterogeneous, and multigenic cancers; this also results in resistance to chemotherapy. In contrast, multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors (MT-TKIs) can effectively block multiple pathways of intracellular signal transduction. Therefore, they have therapeutic advantages over single-targeted inhibitors and have become a hotspot in antitumor drug research in recent years. This minireview summarizes recent advances in the discovery of MT-TKIs based on their chemical structures. In particular, we describe the kinase inhibitory and antitumor activity of promising compounds, as well as their structure - activity relationships (SARs).

Molecular Modeling Study of c-KIT/PDGFRα Dual Inhibitors for the Treatment of Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are the most common Mesenchymal Neoplasm of the gastrointestinal tract. The tumorigenesis of GISTs has been associated with the gain-of-function mutation and abnormal activation of the stem cell factor receptor (c-KIT) and platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRα) kinases. Hence, inhibitors that target c-KIT and PDGFRα could be a therapeutic option for the treatment of GISTs. The available approved c-KIT/PDGFRα inhibitors possessed low efficacy with off-target effects, which necessitated the development of potent inhibitors. We performed computational studies of 48 pyrazolopyridine derivatives that showed inhibitory activity against c-KIT and PDGFRα to study the structural properties important for inhibition of both the kinases. The derivative of phenylurea, which has high activities for both c-KIT (pIC₅₀ = 8.6) and PDGFRα (pIC₅₀ = 8.1), was used as the representative compound for the dataset. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation (100 ns) of compound 14 was performed. Compound 14 showed the formation of hydrogen bonding with Cys673, Glu640, and Asp810 in c-KIT, and Cys677, Glu644, and Asp836 in PDGFRα. The results also suggested that Thr670/T674 substitution in c-KIT/PDGFRα induced conformational changes at the binding site of the receptors. Three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship (3D-QSAR) models were developed based on the inhibitors. Contour map analysis showed that electropositive and bulky substituents at the para-position and the meta-position of the benzyl ring of compound 14 was favorable and may increase the inhibitory activity against both c-KIT and PDGFRα. Analysis of the results suggested that having bulky and hydrophobic substituents that extend into the hydrophobic pocket of the binding site increases the activity for both c-KIT and PDGFRα. Based on the contour map analysis, 50 compounds were designed, and the activities were predicted. An evaluation of binding free energy showed that eight of the designed compounds have potential binding affinity with c-KIT/PDGFRα. Absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity (ADMET) and synthetic feasibility tests showed that the designed compounds have reasonable pharmaceutical properties and synthetic feasibility. Further experimental study of the designed compounds is recommended. The structural information from this study could provide useful insight into the future development of c-KIT and PDGFRα inhibitors.

Identification of potential platelet-derived growth factor receptor α inhibitors by computational screening and binding simulations

Platelet-derived growth factor receptor α (PDGFRα) is considered as a promising target for the treatment of fibrotic diseases. In this study, two types of pharmacophore model, which generated by ligand-based and receptor-based method, were put forward to identify novel chemical entities as PDGFRα inhibitors. It was found that some pharmacophore characteristics established by the two approaches overlap each other. In order to elucidate detailed interactions, representative molecules were selected to predict the conformations and binding modes of the molecules by molecular docking method. The calculation results of binding free energy illustrated that the van der Waals energy and nonpolar solvation were the most prominent contribution to the interactions between the inhibitors and PDGFRα. To further verify the accuracy of the docking results and the stability of the complexes system, the binding modes of two potent PDGFRα inhibitors were examined by 100 ns molecular dynamics simulations. Herein, we reported the basic structural requirements of PDGFRα inhibitors for the first time through molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations. Subsequently, the two pharmacophore models were used for virtual screening to query potential active molecules from Food and Drug Administration approved database. The hit molecules here might provide additional scaffolds for further optimization of PDGFRα inhibitors.

Revealing quinquennial anticancer journey of morpholine: A SAR based review

Morpholine, a six-membered heterocycle containing one nitrogen and one oxygen atom, is a moiety of great significance. It forms an important intermediate in many industrial and organic syntheses. Morpholine containing drugs are of high therapeutic value. Its wide array of pharmacological activity includes anti-diabetic, anti-emetic, growth stimulant, anti-depressant, bronchodilator and anticancer. Multi-drug resistance in cancer cases have emerged in the last few years and have led to the failure of many chemotherapeutic drugs. Newer treatment methods and drugs are being developed to overcome this problem. Target based drug discovery is an effective method to develop novel anticancer drugs. To develop newer drugs, previously reported work needs to be studied. Keeping this in mind, last five year's literature on morpholine used as anticancer agents has been reviewed and summarized in the paper herein.