Preclinical characterization of INCB053914, a novel pan-PIM kinase inhibitor, alone and in combination with anticancer agents, in models of hematologic malignancies

PLoS One. 2018 Jun 21;13(6):e0199108. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0199108. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

The Proviral Integration site of Moloney murine leukemia virus (PIM) serine/threonine protein kinases are overexpressed in many hematologic and solid tumor malignancies and play central roles in intracellular signaling networks important in tumorigenesis, including the Janus kinase-signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK/STAT) and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathways. The three PIM kinase isozymes (PIM1, PIM2, and PIM3) share similar downstream substrates with other key oncogenic kinases and have differing but mutually compensatory functions across tumors. This supports the therapeutic potential of pan-PIM kinase inhibitors, especially in combination with other anticancer agents chosen based on their role in overlapping signaling networks. Reported here is a preclinical characterization of INCB053914, a novel, potent, and selective adenosine triphosphate-competitive pan-PIM kinase inhibitor. In vitro, INCB053914 inhibited proliferation and the phosphorylation of downstream substrates in cell lines from multiple hematologic malignancies. Effects were confirmed in primary bone marrow blasts from patients with acute myeloid leukemia treated ex vivo and in blood samples from patients receiving INCB053914 in an ongoing phase 1 dose-escalation study. In vivo, single-agent INCB053914 inhibited Bcl-2-associated death promoter protein phosphorylation and dose-dependently inhibited tumor growth in acute myeloid leukemia and multiple myeloma xenografts. Additive or synergistic inhibition of tumor growth was observed when INCB053914 was combined with selective PI3Kδ inhibition, selective JAK1 or JAK1/2 inhibition, or cytarabine. Based on these data, pan-PIM kinase inhibitors, including INCB053914, may have therapeutic utility in hematologic malignancies when combined with other inhibitors of oncogenic kinases or standard chemotherapeutics.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology
  • Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use
  • Apoptosis / drug effects
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects*
  • Cytarabine / pharmacology
  • Cytarabine / therapeutic use
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Hematologic Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Hematologic Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Hematologic Neoplasms / pathology
  • Humans
  • Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / drug therapy
  • Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / metabolism
  • Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / pathology
  • Mice
  • Phosphorylation / drug effects
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / pharmacology
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / therapeutic use*
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / metabolism
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-pim-1 / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Signal Transduction / drug effects

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • BCL2 protein, human
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2
  • Cytarabine
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-pim-1
  • proto-oncogene proteins pim

Grants and funding

The study was funded, sponsored and designed by Incyte Corporation (Wilmington, DE). The data were analyzed and interpreted by the sponsors in collaboration with all the authors. Medical writing assistance was provided by Simon J. Slater, PhD, and was funded by Incyte Corporation. The lead author (Holly Koblish, PhD) made the final decision to submit the manuscript for publication. G.W. Reuther receives research funding from Incyte Corporation.