Discovery of 5-methyl-N-(2-arylquinazolin-7-yl)isoxazole-4-carboxamide analogues as highly selective FLT3 inhibitors

Targeting hematological malignancies with isoxazole derivatives

Compounds with a heterocyclic isoxazole ring are well known for their diverse biologic activities encompassing antimicrobial, antipsychotic, immunosuppressive, antidiabetic and anticancer effects. Recent studies on hematological malignancies have also shown that some of the isoxazole-derived compounds feature encouraging cancer selectivity, low toxicity to normal cells and ability to overcome cancer drug resistance of conventional treatments. These characteristics are particularly promising because patients with hematological malignancies face poor clinical outcomes caused by cancer drug resistance or relapse of the disease. This review summarizes the knowledge on isoxazole-derived compounds toward hematological malignancies and provides clues on their mechanism(s) of action (apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, ROS production) and putative pharmacological targets (c-Myc, BET, ATR, FLT3, HSP90, CARM1, tubulin, PD-1/PD-L1, HDACs) wherever known.

Novel spiroindoline quinazolinedione derivatives as anticancer agents and potential FLT3 kinase inhibitors

Despite considerable recent progress in therapeutic strategies, cancer still remains one of the leading causes of death. Molecularly targeted therapies, in particular those focused on blocking receptor tyrosine kinases have produced promising outcomes in recent years. In this study, a new series of spiro[indoline-3,2'-quinazoline]-2,4'(3'H)-dione derivatives (5a-5l) were synthesized and evaluated as potential kinase inhibitors with anticancereffects. The anti-proliferative activity was measured by MTT assay, while the cell cycle was studied using flow cytometry. Moreover, kinase inhibition profiles of the most promising compounds were assessed against a panel of 25 oncogenic kinases. Compounds 5f,5g,5i, and 5jshowed anti-proliferative effect against EBC-1, A549, and HT-29 solid tumor models in addition to leukemia cell line K562. In particular, compound 5f, bearing 4-methylphenyl pendant on the isatin ring displayed considerable potency with IC₅₀ values of 2.4 to 13.4 μM against cancer cells. The most potent derivatives also altered the distribution of cells in different phases of cell cycle and increased the sub-G1 phase cells in K562 cells. Moreover, kinase inhibition assays identified FLT3 kinase was as the primary targetof these derivatives. Compound 5f at 25 μM concentration showed inhibitory activities of 55% and 62% against wild-type FLT3 and its mutant, D835Y, respectively. Finally, the docking and simulation studies revealed the important interactions of compound 5f with wild type and mutant FLT3. The results of this study showed that some novel spiroindoline quinazolinedione compounds could be potential candidates for further development as novel targeted anticancer agents.

Rational design and synthesis of 2-(1H-indazol-6-yl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazole derivatives as inhibitors targeting FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) and its mutants

Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) has been verified as a therapeutic target for acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). In this study, we report a series of 2-(1H-indazol-6-yl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl benzamide and phenyl urea derivatives as potent FLT3 inhibitors based on the structural optimisation of previous FLT3 inhibitors. Derivatives were synthesised as benzamide 8a–k, 8n–z, and phenyl urea 8l–m, with various substituents. The most potent inhibitor, 8r, demonstrated strong inhibitory activity against FLT3 and FLT3 mutants with a nanomolar IC₅₀ and high selectivity profiles over 42 protein kinases. In addition, these type II FLT3 inhibitors were more potent against FLT3 mutants correlated with drug resistance. Overall, we provide a theoretical basis for the structural optimisation of novel benzimidazole analogues to develop strong inhibitors against FLT3 mutants for AML therapeutics.