Discovery of Roblitinib (FGF401) as a Reversible-Covalent Inhibitor of the Kinase Activity of Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor 4.
J Med Chem 2020;
63:12542-12573. [PMID:
32930584 DOI:
10.1021/acs.jmedchem.0c01019]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
FGF19 signaling through the FGFR4/β-klotho receptor complex has been shown to be a key driver of growth and survival in a subset of hepatocellular carcinomas, making selective FGFR4 inhibition an attractive treatment opportunity. A kinome-wide sequence alignment highlighted a poorly conserved cysteine residue within the FGFR4 ATP-binding site at position 552, two positions beyond the gate-keeper residue. Several strategies for targeting this cysteine to identify FGFR4 selective inhibitor starting points are summarized which made use of both rational and unbiased screening approaches. The optimization of a 2-formylquinoline amide hit series is described in which the aldehyde makes a hemithioacetal reversible-covalent interaction with cysteine 552. Key challenges addressed during the optimization are improving the FGFR4 potency, metabolic stability, and solubility leading ultimately to the highly selective first-in-class clinical candidate roblitinib.
Collapse