ABSTRACT
To investigate structure-activity relationships of tankyrase (TNKS) inhibitors, twelve new derivatives of isoquinolin-1(2 H )-one were designed and synthesized, and biological assessments were conducted. Several potent TNKS inhibitors with single- or double-digit nanomolar IC50 values were identified using enzymatic assays. Compound 11c was the most potent compound of this series and inhibited TNKS1 and TNKS2 at an IC50 of 0.009 and 0.003 µM, respectively, and showed an IC50 of 0.029 µM in a DLD-1 SuperTopFlash assay. Molecular docking results showed that compound 11c occupied a unique subpocket and formed a hydrogen bond with Glu1138 of TNKS2, which was not consistent with the patterns of known TNKS inhibitors and thus warrants further research.