Discovery of a Novel ATP-Competitive MEK Inhibitor DS03090629 that Overcomes Resistance Conferred by BRAF Overexpression in BRAF-Mutated Melanoma.

Patients with melanoma with activating BRAF mutations (BRAF V600E/K) initially respond to combination therapy of BRAF and MEK inhibitors. However, their clinical efficacy is limited by acquired resistance, in some cases driven by amplification of the mutant BRAF gene and subsequent reactivation of the MAPK pathway. DS03090629 is a novel and orally available MEK inhibitor that inhibits MEK in an ATP-competitive manner. In both in vitro and in vivo settings, potent inhibition of MEK by DS03090629 or its combination with the BRAF inhibitor dabrafenib was demonstrated in a mutant BRAF-overexpressing melanoma cell line model that exhibited a higher MEK phosphorylation level than the parental cell line and then became resistant to dabrafenib and the MEK inhibitor trametinib. DS03090629 also exhibited superior efficacy against a melanoma cell line-expressing mutant MEK1 protein compared with dabrafenib and trametinib. Biophysical analysis revealed that DS03090629 retained its affinity for the MEK protein regardless of its phosphorylation status, whereas the affinity of trametinib declined when the MEK protein was phosphorylated. These results suggest that DS03090629 may be a novel therapeutic option for patients who acquire resistance to the current BRAF- and MEK-targeting therapies.

A covalent fragment-based strategy targeting a novel cysteine to inhibit activity of mutant EGFR kinase.

Several generations of ATP-competitive anti-cancer drugs that inhibit the activity of the intracellular kinase domain of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) have been developed over the past twenty years. The first-generation of drugs such as gefitinib bind reversibly and were followed by a second-generation such as dacomitinib that harbor an acrylamide moiety that forms a covalent bond with C797 in the ATP binding pocket. Resistance emerges through mutation of the T790 gatekeeper residue to methionine, which introduces steric hindrance to drug binding and increases the Km for ATP. A third generation of drugs, such as osimertinib were developed which were effective against T790M EGFR in which an acrylamide moiety forms a covalent bond with C797, although resistance has emerged by mutation to S797. A fragment-based screen to identify new starting points for an EGFR inhibitor serendipitously identified a fragment that reacted with C775, a previously unexploited residue in the ATP binding pocket for a covalent inhibitor to target. A number of acrylamide containing fragments were identified that selectively reacted with C775. One of these acrylamides was optimized to a highly selective inhibitor with sub-1 µM activity, that is active against T790M, C797S mutant EGFR independent of ATP concentration, providing a potential new strategy for pan-EGFR mutant inhibition.

Catalytic asymmetric amination of N-nonsubstituted α-alkoxycarbonyl amides: concise enantioselective synthesis of mycestericin F and G.

In an attempt to explore the synthetic utility of a ternary asymmetric catalyst comprising La(NO(3))(3)·6H(2)O, amide-based ligand (R)-L1, and D-valine tert-butyl ester H-D-Val-OtBu, we investigated a catalytic, asymmetric amination of functionalized N-nonsubstituted α-alkoxycarbonyl amides using di-tert-butyl azodicarboxylate as an electrophilic aminating reagent. A highly functionalized, cyclic N-nonsubstituted α-alkoxycarbonyl amide delivered the desired amination product in up to 96% enantiometric excess, with the requisite functionalities of the polar heads of sphingosines with the appropriate stereochemical arrangement. The rapid asymmetric assembly of these functional groups allowed a concise enantioselective synthetic route to sphingosines to be established with a broad flexibility towards derivative synthesis. These studies have culminated in an efficient catalytic enantioselective total synthesis of immunosuppressive fungal metabolites mycestericin F (3a) and G (3b).

Direct catalytic asymmetric Mannich-type reaction of α-sulfanyl lactones.

Catalytic asymmetric Mannich-type reactions of α-sulfanyl lactones to aldimines were promoted by a chiral Ag complex/DBU binary catalyst. The reaction proceeded in a syn-selective manner in high enantioselectivity. Alkylative activation of the sulfide of the Mannich adduct allowed for the formation of trisubstituted aziridines.