ABSTRACT
Acquired resistance to ABL1 tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) through ABL1 kinase domain mutations, particularly the gatekeeper mutant T315I, is a significant problem for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Using structure-based drug design, we developed compounds that bind to residues (Arg386/Glu282) ABL1 uses to switch between inactive and active conformations. The lead "switch-control" inhibitor, DCC-2036, potently inhibits both unphosphorylated and phosphorylated ABL1 by inducing a type II inactive conformation, and retains efficacy against the majority of clinically relevant CML-resistance mutants, including T315I. DCC-2036 inhibits BCR-ABL1(T315I)-expressing cell lines, prolongs survival in mouse models of T315I mutant CML and B-lymphoblastic leukemia, and inhibits primary patient leukemia cells expressing T315I in vitro and in vivo, supporting its clinical development in TKI-resistant Ph(+) leukemia.
Subject(s)
Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl/antagonists & inhibitors , Mutation , Precursor B-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma/drug therapy , Protein Kinase Inhibitors/pharmacology , Protein-Tyrosine Kinases/antagonists & inhibitors , Animals , Cell Line, Tumor , Cell Proliferation/drug effects , Cell Survival/drug effects , Drug Design , Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl/chemistry , Humans , Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive/drug therapy , Male , Mice , Mice, Inbred BALB C , Protein Conformation , Protein-Tyrosine Kinases/chemistryABSTRACT
Switch control pocket inhibitors of p38-alpha kinase are described. Durable type II inhibitors were designed which bind to arginines (Arg67 or Arg70) that function as key residues for mediating phospho-threonine 180 dependant conformational fluxing of p38-alpha from an inactive type II state to an active type I state. Binding to Arg70 in particular led to potent inhibitors, exemplified by DP-802, which also exhibited high kinase selectivity. Binding to Arg70 obviated the requirement for binding into the ATP Hinge region. X-ray crystallography revealed that DP-802 and analogs induce an enhanced type II conformation upon binding to either the unphosphorylated or the doubly phosphorylated form of p38-alpha kinase.
