PMID: 22551018

Authors:

Oza VB, Ashwell S, Almeida L, Brassil P, Breed J, Deng C, Gero T, Grondine M, Horn C, Ioannidis S, Liu D, Lyne PD, Newcombe N, Pass M, Read J, Ready S, Rowsell S, Su M, Toader D, Vasbinder M, Yu D, Yu Y, Xue Y, Zabludoff S, Janetka J

Title:

Discovery of Checkpoint Kinase Inhibitor (S)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)-N-(piperidin-3-yl)-3-ureidothiophene-2-carboxamide (AZD7762) by Structure Based Design and Optimization of Thiophene Carboxamide Ureas.

Journal:

J Med Chem. 2012 May 2.

Abstract:

Checkpoint kinases, CHK1 and CHK2 are activated in response to DNA damage that results in cell cycle arrest allowing sufficient time for DNA repair. Agents which lead to abrogation of such checkpoints have potential to increase the efficacy of such as chemo- and radio-therapies. Thiophene carboxamide ureas (TCUs) were identified as inhibitors of CHK1 by high throughput screening. A structure-based approach is described using crystal structures of JNK1 and CHK1 in complex with 1 and 2, and of the CHK1-3b complex. The ribose binding pocket of CHK1 was targetted to generate inhibitors with excellent cellular potency and selectivity over CDK1and IKKbeta key features lacking from the initial compounds. Optimization of 3b resulted in the identification of a regioisomeric 3-TCU lead, 12a. Optimization of 12a led to the discovery of the clinical candidate 4 (AZD7762), that strongly potentiates the efficacy of a variety of DNA-damaging agents in preclinical models.