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Xu W, Kannan S, Verma CS, Nacro K. Update on the Development of MNK Inhibitors as Therapeutic Agents. J Med Chem 2021; 65:983-1007. [PMID: 34533957 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c00368] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Mitogen-activated protein kinase-interacting kinases 1 and 2 (MNK1/2) represent a central class of enzymes that are activated by extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) or p38 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases. MNK1 and MNK2 coordinate cellular signaling, control production of inflammatory chemokines, and regulate cell proliferation and survival. MNK1/2 are referred to as serine/threonine kinases as they phosphorylate serine or threonine residues on their substrates. Upon activation, MNK1/2 phosphorylate eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) at Ser209, which in turn initiates ribosome assembly and protein translation. Deleterious overexpression of MNK1/2 and/or eIF4E have been reported in several diseases including cancers, neurological disorders, autism, and inflammation. Recently, there have been intense efforts toward the development of potent and selective inhibitors of MNK1/2 in both academia and industry. Herein, we review the current understanding of the structural and biological aspects of MNK1/2 and provide an update of pharmacological inhibitors of MNK1/2 including candidates in clinical trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weijun Xu
- Experimental Drug Development Centre (EDDC), A*STAR, 10 Biopolis Road, Chromos #05-01, 138670, Singapore
| | | | - Chandra S Verma
- Bioinformatics Institute (BII), A*STAR, 30 Biopolis Street, #07-01 Matrix, 138671, Singapore.,Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 16 Science Drive 4, 117558, Singapore.,School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 60 Nanyang Drive, 637551, Singapore
| | - Kassoum Nacro
- Experimental Drug Development Centre (EDDC), A*STAR, 10 Biopolis Road, Chromos #05-01, 138670, Singapore
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Abdelaziz AM, Diab S, Islam S, Basnet SKC, Noll B, Li P, Mekonnen LB, Lu J, Albrecht H, Milne RW, Gerber C, Yu M, Wang S. Discovery of N-Phenyl-4-(1H-pyrrol-3-yl)pyrimidin-2-amine Derivatives as Potent Mnk2 Inhibitors: Design, Synthesis, SAR Analysis, and Evaluation of in vitro Anti-leukaemic Activity. Med Chem 2019; 15:602-623. [PMID: 30569866 DOI: 10.2174/1573406415666181219111511] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2018] [Revised: 12/03/2018] [Accepted: 12/11/2018] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Aberrant expression of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) is common in many types of cancer including acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). Phosphorylation of eIF4E by MAPK-interacting kinases (Mnks) is essential for the eIF4E-mediated oncogenic activity. As such, the pharmacological inhibition of Mnks can be an effective strategy for the treatment of cancer. METHODS A series of N-phenyl-4-(1H-pyrrol-3-yl)pyrimidin-2-amine derivatives was designed and synthesised. The Mnk inhibitory activity of these derivatives as well as their anti-proliferative activity against MV4-11 AML cells was determined. RESULTS These compounds were identified as potent Mnk2 inhibitors. Most of them demonstrated potent anti-proliferative activity against MV4-11 AML cells. The cellular mechanistic studies of the representative inhibitors revealed that they reduced the level of phosphorylated eIF4E and induced apoptosis by down-regulating the anti-apoptotic protein myeloid cell leukaemia 1 (Mcl-1) and by cleaving poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase (PARP). The lead compound 7k possessed desirable pharmacokinetic properties and oral bioavailability. CONCLUSION This work proposes that exploration of the structural diversity in the context of Nphenyl- 4-(1H-pyrrol-3-yl)pyrimidin-2-amine would offer potent and selective Mnk inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ahmed M Abdelaziz
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Cancer Research Institute, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia
| | - Sarah Diab
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Cancer Research Institute, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia
| | - Saiful Islam
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Cancer Research Institute, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia
| | - Sunita K C Basnet
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Cancer Research Institute, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia
| | - Benjamin Noll
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Cancer Research Institute, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia
| | - Peng Li
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Cancer Research Institute, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia
| | - Laychiluh B Mekonnen
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Cancer Research Institute, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia
| | - Jingfeng Lu
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Cancer Research Institute, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia
| | - Hugo Albrecht
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Cancer Research Institute, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia
| | - Robert W Milne
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Cancer Research Institute, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia
| | - Cobus Gerber
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Cancer Research Institute, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia
| | - Mingfeng Yu
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Cancer Research Institute, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia
| | - Shudong Wang
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Cancer Research Institute, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia
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Basnet SKC, Diab S, Schmid R, Yu M, Yang Y, Gillam TA, Teo T, Li P, Peat T, Albrecht H, Wang S. Identification of a Highly Conserved Allosteric Binding Site on Mnk1 and Mnk2. Mol Pharmacol 2015; 88:935-48. [PMID: 26268528 DOI: 10.1124/mol.115.100131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2015] [Accepted: 08/11/2015] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Elevated levels of phosphorylated eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) have been implicated in many tumor types, and mitogen activated protein kinase-interacting kinases (Mnks) are the only known kinases that phosphorylate eIF4E at Ser209. The phosphorylation of eIF4E is essential for oncogenic transformation but is of no significance to normal growth and development. Pharmacological inhibition of Mnks therefore provides a nontoxic and effective strategy for cancer therapy. However, a lack of specific Mnk inhibitors has confounded pharmacological target validation and clinical development. Herein, we report the identification of a novel series of Mnk inhibitors and their binding modes. A systematic workflow has been established to distinguish between type III and type I/II inhibitors. A selection of 66 compounds was tested for Mnk1 and Mnk2 inhibition, and 9 out of 20 active compounds showed type III interaction with an allosteric site of the proteins. Most of the type III inhibitors exhibited dual Mnk1 and Mnk2 activities and demonstrated potent antiproliferative properties against the MV4-11 acute myeloid leukemia cell line. Interestingly, ATP-/substrate-competitive inhibitors were found to be highly selective for Mnk2, with little or no activity for Mnk1. Our study suggests that Mnk1 and Mnk2 share a common structure of the allosteric inhibitory binding site but possess different structural features of the ATP catalytic domain. The findings will assist in the future design and development of Mnk targeted anticancer therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sunita K C Basnet
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Sansom Institute for Health Research, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia (S.K.C.B., S.D., R.S., M.Y., Y.Y., T.A.G., T.T., P.L., H.A., S.W.); and CSIRO Biosciences Program, Parkville, Victoria, Australia (T.P.)
| | - Sarah Diab
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Sansom Institute for Health Research, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia (S.K.C.B., S.D., R.S., M.Y., Y.Y., T.A.G., T.T., P.L., H.A., S.W.); and CSIRO Biosciences Program, Parkville, Victoria, Australia (T.P.)
| | - Raffaella Schmid
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Sansom Institute for Health Research, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia (S.K.C.B., S.D., R.S., M.Y., Y.Y., T.A.G., T.T., P.L., H.A., S.W.); and CSIRO Biosciences Program, Parkville, Victoria, Australia (T.P.)
| | - Mingfeng Yu
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Sansom Institute for Health Research, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia (S.K.C.B., S.D., R.S., M.Y., Y.Y., T.A.G., T.T., P.L., H.A., S.W.); and CSIRO Biosciences Program, Parkville, Victoria, Australia (T.P.)
| | - Yuchao Yang
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Sansom Institute for Health Research, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia (S.K.C.B., S.D., R.S., M.Y., Y.Y., T.A.G., T.T., P.L., H.A., S.W.); and CSIRO Biosciences Program, Parkville, Victoria, Australia (T.P.)
| | - Todd Alexander Gillam
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Sansom Institute for Health Research, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia (S.K.C.B., S.D., R.S., M.Y., Y.Y., T.A.G., T.T., P.L., H.A., S.W.); and CSIRO Biosciences Program, Parkville, Victoria, Australia (T.P.)
| | - Theodosia Teo
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Sansom Institute for Health Research, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia (S.K.C.B., S.D., R.S., M.Y., Y.Y., T.A.G., T.T., P.L., H.A., S.W.); and CSIRO Biosciences Program, Parkville, Victoria, Australia (T.P.)
| | - Peng Li
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Sansom Institute for Health Research, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia (S.K.C.B., S.D., R.S., M.Y., Y.Y., T.A.G., T.T., P.L., H.A., S.W.); and CSIRO Biosciences Program, Parkville, Victoria, Australia (T.P.)
| | - Tom Peat
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Sansom Institute for Health Research, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia (S.K.C.B., S.D., R.S., M.Y., Y.Y., T.A.G., T.T., P.L., H.A., S.W.); and CSIRO Biosciences Program, Parkville, Victoria, Australia (T.P.)
| | - Hugo Albrecht
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Sansom Institute for Health Research, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia (S.K.C.B., S.D., R.S., M.Y., Y.Y., T.A.G., T.T., P.L., H.A., S.W.); and CSIRO Biosciences Program, Parkville, Victoria, Australia (T.P.)
| | - Shudong Wang
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Sansom Institute for Health Research, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia (S.K.C.B., S.D., R.S., M.Y., Y.Y., T.A.G., T.T., P.L., H.A., S.W.); and CSIRO Biosciences Program, Parkville, Victoria, Australia (T.P.)
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Yu M, Li P, Basnet SKC, Kumarasiri M, Diab S, Teo T, Albrecht H, Wang S. Discovery of 4-(dihydropyridinon-3-yl)amino-5-methylthieno[2,3-d]pyrimidine derivatives as potent Mnk inhibitors: synthesis, structure-activity relationship analysis and biological evaluation. Eur J Med Chem 2015; 95:116-26. [PMID: 25800647 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2015.03.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2014] [Revised: 10/15/2014] [Accepted: 03/13/2015] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Phosphorylation of the eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) by mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-interacting kinases (Mnks) is essential for oncogenesis but unnecessary for normal development. Thus, pharmacological inhibition of Mnks may offer an effective and non-toxic anti-cancer therapeutic strategy. Herein, we report the discovery of 4-(dihydropyridinon-3-yl)amino-5-methylthieno[2,3-d]pyrimidine derivatives as potent Mnk inhibitors. Docking study of 7a in Mnk2 suggests that the compound is stabilised in the ATP binding site through multiple hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interaction. Cellular mechanistic studies on MV-4-11 cells with leads 7a, 8e and 8f reveal that they are able to down-regulate the phosphorylated eIF4E, Mcl-1 and cyclin D1, and induce apoptosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingfeng Yu
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Sansom Institute for Health Research and Center for Cancer Biology, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia
| | - Peng Li
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Sansom Institute for Health Research and Center for Cancer Biology, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia
| | - Sunita K C Basnet
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Sansom Institute for Health Research and Center for Cancer Biology, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia
| | - Malika Kumarasiri
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Sansom Institute for Health Research and Center for Cancer Biology, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia
| | - Sarah Diab
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Sansom Institute for Health Research and Center for Cancer Biology, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia
| | - Theodosia Teo
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Sansom Institute for Health Research and Center for Cancer Biology, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia
| | - Hugo Albrecht
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Sansom Institute for Health Research and Center for Cancer Biology, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia
| | - Shudong Wang
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Sansom Institute for Health Research and Center for Cancer Biology, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia.
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