Discovery of ASP5878: Synthesis and structure-activity relationships of pyrimidine derivatives as pan-FGFRs inhibitors with improved metabolic stability and suppressed hERG channel inhibitory activity.

Fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) is an attractive therapeutic target for the treatment of bladder cancer patients harboring genetic alterations in FGFR3. We identified pyrimidine derivative ASP5878 (27) with improved metabolic stability and suppressed human ether-á-go-go related gene (hERG) channel inhibitory activity by the optimization of lead compound 1. Based on prediction of the metabolites of 1, an ether linker was introduced in place of the ethylene linker to improve metabolic stability. Moreover, conversion of the phenyl moiety into the pyrazole ring resulted in the suppression of hERG channel inhibitory activity, possibly due to the weaker π-π stacking interaction with Phe656 in the hERG channel by a reduction in π-electrical density of the aromatic ring. ASP5878 showed potent in vitro FGFR3 enzyme and cell growth inhibitory activity, and in vivo FGFR3 autophosphorylation inhibitory activity. Moreover, ASP5878 did not affect the hERG current up to 10 µM by in vitro patch-clamp assay, and a single oral dose of ASP5878 at 1, 10, and 100 mg/kg did not induce serious adverse effects on the central nervous, cardiovascular, and respiratory systems in dogs. Furthermore, ASP5878 exhibited lower total clearance than hepatic blood flow and high oral bioavailability in rats and dogs, and moderate brain penetration in rats.

Synthesis and structure-activity relationships of pyrimidine derivatives as potent and orally active FGFR3 inhibitors with both increased systemic exposure and enhanced in vitro potency.

Fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) is an attractive therapeutic target for the treatment of patients with bladder cancer harboring genetic alterations in FGFR3. We identified pyrimidine derivative 20b, which induced tumor regression following oral administration to a bladder cancer xenograft mouse model. Compound 20b was discovered by optimizing lead compound 1, which we reported previously. Specifically, reducing the molecular size of the substituent at the 4-position and replacing the linker of the 5-position in the pyrimidine scaffold resulted in an increase in systemic exposure. Furthermore, introduction of two fluorine atoms into the 3,5-dimethoxyphenyl ring enhanced FGFR3 inhibitory activity. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation of 20b suggested that the fluorine atom interacts with the main chain NH moiety of Asp635 via a hydrogen bond.

Structure-based drug design of 1,3,5-triazine and pyrimidine derivatives as novel FGFR3 inhibitors with high selectivity over VEGFR2.

Fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) is an attractive therapeutic target for the treatment of bladder cancer. We identified 1,3,5-triazine derivative 18b and pyrimidine derivative 40a as novel structures with potent and highly selective FGFR3 inhibitory activity over vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) using a structure-based drug design (SBDD) approach. X-ray crystal structure analysis suggests that interactions between 18b and amino acid residues located in the solvent region (Lys476 and Met488), and between 40a and Met529 located in the back pocket of FGFR3 may underlie the potent FGFR3 inhibitory activity and high kinase selectivity over VEGFR2.

Identification of a key element for hydrogen-bonding patterns between protein kinases and their inhibitors.

In this article, we report crystal structures for inhibitor-kinase complexes in which the inhibitor has different binding orientations and hydrogen-bonding patterns with extracellular-signal regulated kinase 2 and insulin receptor tyrosine kinase. Our crystallographic studies, and sequence and structural analyses of 532 coordinates of kinases held in the Protein Data Bank, suggest that the length of the "specificity linker" described here is a key structural element of the hydrogen-bonding patterns between protein kinases and their inhibitors.

YM-359445, an orally bioavailable vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 tyrosine kinase inhibitor, has highly potent antitumor activity against established tumors.

PURPOSE: The vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR2) tyrosine kinase has been implicated in the pathologic angiogenesis associated with tumor growth. YM-359445 was a (3Z)-3-quinolin-2(1H)-ylidene-1,3-dihydro-2H-indol-2-one derivative found while screening based on the inhibition of VEGFR2 tyrosine kinase. The aim of this study was to analyze the efficacy of this compound both in vitro and in vivo. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: We tested the effects of YM-359445 on VEGFR2 tyrosine kinase activity, cell proliferation, and angiogenesis. The antitumor activity of YM-359445 was also tested in nude mice bearing various established tumors and compared with other VEGFR2 tyrosine kinase inhibitors (ZD6474, CP-547632, CGP79787, SU11248, and AZD2171), a cytotoxic agent (paclitaxel), and an epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (gefitinib). RESULTS: The IC50 of YM-359445 for VEGFR2 tyrosine kinase was 0.0085 micromol/L. In human vascular endothelial cells, the compound inhibited VEGF-dependent proliferation, VEGFR2 autophosphorylation, and sprout formation at concentrations of 0.001 to 0.003 micromol/L. These concentrations had no direct cytotoxic effect on cancer cells. In mice bearing various established tumors, including paclitaxel-resistant tumors, once daily oral administration of YM-359445 at doses of 0.5 to 4 mg/kg not only inhibited tumor growth but also reduced its vasculature. YM-359445 had greater antitumor activity than other VEGFR2 tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Moreover, in human lung cancer A549 xenografts, YM-359445 markedly regressed the tumors (73%) at a dose of 4 mg/kg, whereas gefitinib caused no regression even at 100 mg/kg. CONCLUSION: Our results show that YM-359445 is more potent than orally bioavailable VEGFR2 tyrosine kinase inhibitors, which leads to great expectations for clinical applicability.

Synthetic studies on novel Syk inhibitors. Part 1: Synthesis and structure-activity relationships of pyrimidine-5-carboxamide derivatives.

Spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk) is a non-receptor-type tyrosine kinase which mediates diverse responses in haematopoietic cells. Therefore, Syk is an attractive therapeutic target, and in a study of Syk inhibitors as potentially new therapeutic agents, we discovered the 4-anilinopyrimidine-5-carboxamides. Enzyme screening indicated that an aminoethylamino moiety at the 2-position of the pyrimidine ring was important for Syk inhibitory activity, and an investigation of the substituents at the 4-position revealed that an anilino moiety substituted at the meta position was preferred. These compounds showed high selectivity for Syk, compared to other kinases, such as ZAP-70, c-Src, and PKC, and exhibited good inhibitory activities against 5-HT release from RBL-cells. Among them, compound 9a inhibited the passive cutaneous anaphylaxis reaction in mice, with an ID50 of 13 mg/kg following subcutaneous administration. These results suggest that our compounds are worthy of further evaluation as new anti-allergic agents.

Synthetic studies on selective type 4 phosphodiesterase (PDE 4) inhibitors. 1. Structure-activity relationships and pharmacological evaluation of 1,8-naphthyridin-2(1H)-one derivatives.

In order to develop novel and orally active phosphodiesterase (PDE) 4 inhibitors, random screening was performed using our chemical library to find YM-10335 possessing the 1,8-naphthyridin-2(1H)-one skeleton which is a completely different structure from rolipram. In this report, the syntheses and structure-activity relationships of the YM-10335 derivatives were described. Some compounds showed selective inhibitory activities for PDE 4 derived from human peripheral blood cells and no effect on the other PDE types (1, 2, 3, 5). The inhibition of the tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) release in vitro and the carrageenan-induced pleurisy in rats were also described.