Discovery of CZS-241: A Potent, Selective, and Orally Available Polo-Like Kinase 4 Inhibitor for the Treatment of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia

J Med Chem. 2023 Feb 23;66(4):2396-2421. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.2c02124. Epub 2023 Feb 3.

Abstract

Recent studies demonstrate that PLK4 has emerged as a therapeutic target for the treatment of multiple cancers owing to its indispensable role in cell division. Herein, starting from previously identified effective compound CZS-034, based on rational drug design strategies, tyrosine kinase receptor A (TRKA) selectivity- and metabolic stability-guided structure-activity relationship (SAR) exploration were carried out to discover a highly potent (IC50 = 2.6 nM) and selective (SF = 1054.4 over TRKA) PLK4 inhibitor B43 (CZS-241) with acceptable human liver microsome stability (t1/2 = 31.5 min). Moreover, compound B43 effectively inhibited leukemia cells in 29 tested cell lines, especially chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) cell lines K562 and KU-812. Pharmacokinetic characteristics revealed that compound B43 possessed over 4 h of half-life and 70.8% bioavailability in mice. In the K562 cells xenograft mouse model, a 20 mg/kg/day dosage treatment obviously suppressed tumor progression. As a potential and novel PLK4-targeted candidate drug for CML, compound B43 is undergoing extensive preclinical safety evaluation.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antineoplastic Agents* / pharmacology
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Humans
  • K562 Cells
  • Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive* / drug therapy
  • Mice
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / pharmacology
  • Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / metabolism
  • Structure-Activity Relationship

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors
  • PLK4 protein, human
  • Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases