PMID: 25845281

Authors:

Sivaprakasam P, Han X, Civiello RL, Jacutin-Porte S, Kish K, Pokross M, Lewis HA, Ahmed N, Szapiel N, Newitt JA, Baldwin ET, Xiao H, Krause CM, Park H, Nophsker M, Lippy JS, Burton CR, Langley DR, Macor JE, Dubowchik GM

Title:

Discovery of new acylaminopyridines as GSK-3 inhibitors by a structure guided in-depth exploration of chemical space around a pyrrolopyridinone core.

Journal:

Bioorg Med Chem Lett. 2015 May 1;25(9):1856-63. doi: 10.1016/j.bmcl.2015.03.046. , Epub 2015 Mar 24.

Abstract:

Glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) has been proposed to play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of many diseases including cancer, stroke, bipolar disorders, diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases. GSK-3 inhibition has been a major area of pharmaceutical interest over the last two decades. A plethora of reports appeared recently on selective inhibitors and their co-crystal structures in GSK-3beta. We identified several series of promising new GSK-3beta inhibitors from a coherent design around a pyrrolopyridinone core structure. A systematic exploration of the chemical space around the central spacer led to potent single digit and sub-nanomolar GSK-3beta inhibitors. When dosed orally in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease (AD), an exemplary compound showed significant lowering of Tau phosphorylation at one of the GSK-3 phosphorylating sites, Ser396. X-ray crystallography greatly aided in validating the binding hypotheses.