M.E. Dumas et al.
Bioorganic&MedicinalChemistryLettersxxx(xxxx)xxx–xxx
activity.8–11 The importance of Kif15 in K5I-resistance is highlighted by
our recent discovery that deletion of KIF15 prevents the emergence of
K5I resistance in cultured cells. This finding raises the possibility that
therapies targeting spindle assembly will not be efficacious unless Kif15
inhibitors are also included.10
cell line adapted to survive in the presence of the kinesin-5 inhibitor
STLC. Cancer cells can acquire resistance to K5Is, and these K5I-re-
sistant cell lines (KIRCs) rely on Kif15 to build a bipolar spindle.8–11 We
generated the KIRC-1 cell line as a clone of TP53−/− RPE-1 cells that
adapted to the presence of 10 µM STLC (see Materials and Methods).
Without further perturbation, KIRC-1 cells exhibit ∼50–60% mono-
polar spindles, consistent with previously published K5I-resistant lines
(Fig 1F and G).11 Confirming that Kif15 is essential to complete cell
division when Eg5 is inhibited, depletion of Kif15 from KIRC-1 cells by
RNAi blocked bipolar spindle assembly; 99% of Kif15-depleted KIRC-1
cells contained monopolar spindles, compared to 65% in control siRNA-
transfected cells (Fig. S3D and E). To test the effects of GW108X, we
scored monopolarity in KIRC-1 cells treated with 25 µM of GW108X (in
the presence of 10 µM STLC), and found that the compound increased
We set out to identify chemical scaffolds that target Kif15 as a
starting point for tool compound development and drug design. We
screened the GlaxoSmithKline Published Kinase Inhibitor set (GSK
PKIS) and identified two oxindole compounds that inhibit Kif15 ATPase
activity. GW406108X (hereafter GW108X) and GW305074X (2) in-
hibited Kif15-N420 ATPase activity by 76
3.6% and 90
5.3%,
respectively (Figs. 1A, S1B, and S2A). Both compounds contain an
oxindole core and a halogenated phenol ring on the right-hand side of
the molecule. They differ most at the 5-position of the oxindole, with
GW108X being an acylfuran and 2 being an iodide. Oxindoles are a
class of privileged scaffolds that have been frequently used as starting
points for kinase inhibitors, but this scaffold has previously been used
to generate a myosin V inhibitor.12 GW108X and 2 were first described
as potent c-Raf1 inhibitors and have since been extensively character-
ized by GSK, with GW108X reported as being a promiscuous kinase and
the percent of monopolar spindles in KIRC-1 cells from 49
95 3% (Fig. 1F and G). The ability of GW108X to block spindle as-
sembly in KIRC-1 cells was dose-dependent (Fig. S3F).
4% to
In KIRC-1 cells, Kif15 is required for spindle bipolarity (Fig. S3D),
but we cannot exclude the possibility that the increase of monopolar
spindles in the presence of GW108X is not due to mechanisms beyond
Kif15 inhibition. Since GW108X is a broad-spectrum kinase inhibitor, it
is possible that a block in spindle assembly is partly due to co-inhibition
of a mitotic kinase(s). Importantly, such kinase inhibitor activity is
tolerated in RPE-1 cells, as spindle assembly is not prevented in the
parental cell line. In HeLa K5I-resistant cell lines, monopolar spindles
can arise from the combined inhibition of Eg5 and Aurora A Kinase
quired to target Kif15 to the spindle.23 While biochemical analysis re-
vealed that GW108X inhibits AURKA 67% at 1 µM, it is unknown if
GW108X effectively inhibits AURKA in cells.13
Concentration response analysis for GW108X and 2 was performed
using the ATPase assay, generating IC50 values of 0.82 µM for GW108X
and 2.5 µM for 2 (Figs. 1B (blue curve) and S2B). We decided to pursue
further characterize the ability of GW108X to inhibit Kif15, we used the
MT-gliding assay. For this, we used Kif15-N700, a longer construct that
robustly glides MTs (see Materials and Methods).17 The inhibitory ac-
tivity of GW108X against Kif15 was scored by calculating the velocity
of MT gliding over a range of inhibitor concentrations to generate a
concentration response curve. The IC50 was 734 nM, similar to that
calculated using the ATPase assay (Fig. 1B (green curve) and C).
We next used the MT gliding assay to test whether the inhibition of
Kif15 by GW108X is reversible. We initiated MT gliding by Kif15 in the
presence of DMSO, and then introduced 10 µM of GW108X. Treatment
for 1 min was sufficient to eliminate MT gliding. GW108X was then
washed out, and the chamber was imaged for another minute. After
wash out of GW108X, MTs resumed gliding again, revealing that
GW108X inhibits Kif15 in a reversible manner (Fig. 1D, Supporting
Video 2). MT gliding was unaffected when only DMSO was washed in
(Fig. S2C). We then tested the ability of GW108X to inhibit Eg5, HSET,
and Kif18A, three additional mitotic motors that differ in both structure
and function.18–20 Despite promiscuity as a kinase inhibitor, GW108X
displayed a preference for Kif15 over the other mitotic motors, with
To probe the relationship between structure and Kif15 inhibition
activity of GW108X, we created a small library of derivatives with
modifications to both the furan and the phenol. The compounds were
prepared according to Scheme 1 (Fig. 2). We first explored conservative
changes around the hit compound. The requisite intermediate II was
synthesized from a Friedel-Crafts reaction from oxindole I. Condensa-
tion with various aromatic aldehydes gave the GW108X-inspired ana-
logs III. We also contemplated changes to the oxindole 5-position
substituent. Analogs V, with a furan or other aromatic ring directly
attached to the oxindole, were generated using palladium-mediated
Suzuki coupling reactions from readily accessible bromides IV. Simi-
larly, acids VI could be derivatized to corresponding amides VIII using
HATU-based amide coupling conditions.
To compare the activity of the GW108X derivatives, we tested their
ability to inhibit Kif15 MT-gliding at 750 nM, roughly the IC50 of
GW108X (Fig. 3). GW108X contains halogens in the ortho positions of
the phenol, which may provide opportunities for the formation of both
30 µM of GW108X inhibiting Kif15 MT gliding by 98.9%
only inhibiting Eg5 by 19.8% 4.3%, HSET by 5.3%
Kif18A by 4.9% 3.9 (mean
0.2% while
2.9% and
SEM, Fig. 1E). Taken together, these
suggests that the compound may exploit a Kif15-specific binding site for
inhibition.
To determine if GW108X affects Kif15 activity in cells, we first
analyzed its effects on Kif15 localization and activity in TP53−/− RPE-1
cells.21 In RPE-1 cells treated with 25 µM GW108X, 84% of pre-ana-
phase microtubule arrays were bipolar (n = 470), similar to cells
treated with DMSO (90% bipolar, n = 490), which is consistent with
previous work showing that Kif15 is not normally required for spindle
assembly (Fig. 1G).11,22 However, 25 μM of GW108X led to a 3-fold
decrease of spindle-bound Kif15 levels compared to DMSO, as assessed
by quantitative immunofluorescence microscopy (Fig. 1F and H). De-
crease in Kif15 levels on the spindle corresponds to a ∼60% decrease in
Kif15 protein levels in RPE-1 cells treated with 25 µM GW108X, sug-
gesting that GW108X treatment of cells leads to Kif15 degradation (Fig.
S3A and B). Despite a decrease of Kif15 in RPE-1 cells treated with
25 µM GW108X, spindle lengths were unaffected (Fig. S3C).
Fig. 2. Scheme 1. Reagents and conditions: a. AlCl3, DCE. 0 °C, 65% b. RCHO,
piperidine, EtOH, 80 °C, 40–70% c. ArB(OH)2, Pd(PH3)4, Na2CO3, 2:1 dioxane/
water, 110 °C, 20–79% d. amine, HATU, DIPEA, DMF, 57–64%.
To determine if GW108X inhibits the spindle assembly function of
Kif15, we tested whether GW108X blocks spindle assembly in an RPE-1
3