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W. Zhou et al. / Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 21 (2011) 638–643
NO2
NO2
Cl
N
OH
N
O
N
O
Cl
(a)
(b)
N
Cl
N
Cl
N
N
+
Cl
NO2
N
H
Cl
N
C1
O
C2
NH2
NH
(d)
(c)
N
O
N
N
O
N
N
Cl
N
Cl
N
N
N
H
N
H
C3
3h
Scheme 3. Synthesis of pyrimidine compound 3h. Reagents and conditions: (a) K2CO3, DMF; (b) 4-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl) aniline, TFA, 2-BuOH, 100 °C; (c) PtO2, H2, MeOH;
(d) acryloyl chloride, DIEA, CH2Cl2.
Table 4
Cellular antiproliferative data
and an EC50 of 2 nM in E746_A750_del/T790M relative to an EC50
of >3300 nM in E746_A750_del/T790M/C797S EGFR-transformed
Ba/F3 cells. In addition the reversible analog of 3i, which has a sat-
urated C–C bond instead of C@C bond and therefore is unable to
O
NH
undergo a Michael addition reaction with C797 was synthesized.
Its EC50 value in cellular proliferation assays against E746_A750/
T790M EGFR Ba/F3 cells was 1290 nM, which is 645-fold less po-
tent than 3i (EC50 = 2 nM). Furthermore, analysis of recombinant
EGFR-T790M kinase incubated with 3h by electrospray mass
spectrometry revealed stoichiometric addition of one inhibitor
molecule to the protein. Analysis of a pepsin digest of the modified
protein by tandem mass spectrometry identified Cys797 as the site
of modification, thus verifying covalent bond formation between
3h and EGFR.10
In summary we successfully developed a series of covalent
inhibitors for EGFR-T790M12 by a structure-based drug design.
Those inhibitors exhibited great potency and mutant selectivity
against drug resistant EGFR-T790M. A representative compound
3i blocked proliferation of EGFR-T790M PC9 cells with an EC50 in
the two digit nanomolar range. The approach of combining cellular
screens against clinically relevant mutant kinases with structure-
based drug design, should be useful for numerous important can-
cer targets. Further work will be reported on the pharmacokinetic
properties and in vivo activity for EGFR inhibitors in due course.
N
O
N
N
X
N
N
H
5
Compd
X
Cellular antiproliferative activity (EC50, lM)
EGFR del
Del/T790M
3h
5a
5b
5c
Cl
H
CF3
Br
0.015
0.08
0.70
0.80
0.003
>1
0.80
0.90
EGFR-T790M. The analogs of 3h with Cl replaced by H, Br, CF3 were
synthesized using the same route as depicted in Scheme 3. Among
them 3h is the most potent (Table 4) because it is likely that the
chloro group engages in a dipole interaction with the thioether of
the methionine at position 790 of EGFR.10 Compounds 3h and 3i
were profiled against a panel of 400 kinases using the Ambit Ki-
nome screening platform. In addition to EGFR, several kinases
demonstrated strong binding particularly those kinases possessing
cysteines at the same position as EGFR. Potent inhibition of 3i
against EGFR-T790M mutant was also observed using enzymatic
assays.10,11 To confirm whether the observed binding activity
translated into cellular activity, 3h and 3i were assayed against
Ba/F3 cells transformed with TEL fusions of Bmx, Blk, Jak2 and
Jak3. Compounds 3h and 3i both showed no inhibition of Jak2
while 3i, which possesses an ortho-methoxy group at C2-aniline
substituent, is much weaker at inhibiting Jak3, Blk, Bmx, and thus
more selective for EGFR than 3h.10
To investigate if our EGFR inhibitors bind irreversibly, we
constructed EGFR-transformed Ba/F3 cell lines where the reactive
cysteine residue is replaced with a serine (C797S). The C797S
mutation resulted in a dramatic 400- and 1650-fold reduced
potency for 3i in the L858R and E746_A750 backgrounds, respec-
tively. For example, 3i possesses an EC50 of 8 nM in L858R/
T790M relative to an EC50 of >3300 nM in L858R/T790M/C797S
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