Discovery of the c-Jun N-Terminal Kinase Inhibitor CC-90001.

As a result of emerging biological data suggesting that within the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) family, JNK1 and not JNK2 or JNK3 may be primarily responsible for fibrosis pathology, we sought to identify JNK inhibitors with an increased JNK1 bias relative to our previous clinical compound tanzisertib (CC-930). This manuscript reports the synthesis and structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies for a novel series of JNK inhibitors demonstrating an increased JNK1 bias. SAR optimization on a series of 2,4-dialkylamino-pyrimidine-5-carboxamides resulted in the identification of compounds possessing low nanomolar JNK inhibitory potency, overall kinome selectivity, and the ability to inhibit cellular phosphorylation of the direct JNK substrate c-Jun. Optimization of physicochemical properties in this series resulted in compounds that demonstrated excellent systemic exposure following oral dosing, enabling in vivo efficacy studies and the selection of a candidate for clinical development, CC-90001, which is currently in clinical trials (Phase II) in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (NCT03142191).

A Cereblon Modulator (CC-220) with Improved Degradation of Ikaros and Aiolos.

The drugs lenalidomide and pomalidomide bind to the protein cereblon, directing the CRL4-CRBN E3 ligase toward the transcription factors Ikaros and Aiolos to cause their ubiquitination and degradation. Here we describe CC-220 (compound 6), a cereblon modulator in clinical development for systemic lupus erythematosis and relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. Compound 6 binds cereblon with a higher affinity than lenalidomide or pomalidomide. Consistent with this, the cellular degradation of Ikaros and Aiolos is more potent and the extent of substrate depletion is greater. The crystal structure of cereblon in complex with DDB1 and compound 6 reveals that the increase in potency correlates with increased contacts between compound 6 and cereblon away from the modeled binding site for Ikaros/Aiolos. These results describe a new cereblon modulator which achieves greater substrate degradation via tighter binding to the cereblon E3 ligase and provides an example of the effect of E3 ligase binding affinity with relevance to other drug discovery efforts in targeted protein degradation.

A novel compound, NK150460, exhibits selective antitumor activity against breast cancer cell lines through activation of aryl hydrocarbon receptor.

Antiestrogen agents are commonly used to treat patients with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer. Tamoxifen has been the mainstay of endocrine treatment for patients with early and advanced breast cancer for many years. Following tamoxifen treatment failure, however, there are still limited options for subsequent hormonal therapy. We discovered a novel compound, NK150460, that inhibits 17ß-estradiol (E2)-dependent transcription without affecting binding of E2 to ER. Against our expectations, NK150460 inhibited growth of not only most ER-positive, but also some ER-negative breast cancer cell lines, while never inhibiting growth of non-breast cancer cell lines. Cell-based screening using a random shRNA library, identified aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator (ARNT) as a key gene involved in NK150460's antitumor mechanism. siRNAs against not only ARNT but also its counterpart aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) and their target protein, CYP1A1, dramatically abrogated NK150460's growth-inhibitory activity. This suggests that the molecular cascade of AhR/ARNT plays an essential role in NK150460's antitumor mechanism. Expression of ERα was decreased by NK150460 treatment, and this was inhibited by an AhR antagonist. Unlike two other AhR agonists now undergoing clinical developmental stage, NK150460 did not induce histone H2AX phosphorylation or p53 expression, suggesting that it did not induce a DNA damage response in treated cells. Cell lines expressing epithelial markers were more sensitive to NK150460 than mesenchymal marker-expressing cells. These data indicate that NK150460 is a novel AhR agonist with selective antitumor activity against breast cancer cell lines, and its features differ from those of the other two AhR agonists.

Aminopurine based JNK inhibitors for the prevention of ischemia reperfusion injury.

In this Letter we describe the optimization of an aminopurine lead (1) with modest potency and poor overall kinase selectivity which led to the identification of a series of potent, selective JNK inhibitors. Improvement in kinase selectivity was enabled by introduction of an aliphatic side chain at the C-2 position. CC-359 (2) was selected as a potential clinical candidate for diseases manifested by ischemia reperfusion injury.

Discovery of CC-930, an orally active anti-fibrotic JNK inhibitor.

In this Letter we describe the discovery of potent, selective, and orally active aminopurine JNK inhibitors. Improving the physico-chemical properties as well as increasing the potency and selectivity of a subseries with rat plasma exposure, led to the identification of four structurally diverse inhibitors. Differentiation based on PK profiles in multiple species as well as activity in a chronic efficacy model led to the identification of 1 (CC-930) as a development candidate, which is currently in Phase II clinical trial for IPF.

Suppression of alloreactivity and allograft rejection by SP600125, a small molecule inhibitor of c-Jun N-terminal kinase.

BACKGROUND: c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) is reported to play crucial roles in T-cell activation and differentiation, and SP600125 is a small molecule that inhibits JNK. The aim of this study was to examine immunosuppressive action of this compound. METHODS: Rat heterotopic heart transplantation, popliteal lymph node (PLN) hyperplasia bioassay and lymphocyte proliferation assay. RESULTS: SP600125 treatment reduced histological rejection, and dose-dependently extended median survival time of cardiac allografts from 7 days (vehicle) up to 20 days (40 mg/kg/day). Alloantigen-induced PLN hyperplasia was also inhibited by SP600125 in a similar fashion. SP600125 suppressed mixed lymphocyte reaction and OX52-positive lymphocyte proliferation (IC50: 1.5-5.7 microM). Thus, SP600125 inhibits both T-lymphocyte expansion in vitro and T-cell-mediated alloimmune responses in vivo. In addition, SP600125 interacted with cyclosporine additively to prolong cardiac allograft survival. CONCLUSION: Our data provide the first evidence indicating the potential for JNK as a therapeutic target to inhibit the alloimmune response.

Pro-inflammatory signaling by Jun-N-terminal kinase in inflammatory bowel disease.

Since Jun-N-terminal kinase participates in intracellular signaling cascades resulting in inflammatory responses, inhibiting this pathway may represent a new treatment for inflammatory bowel disease including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. However, the functional significance of the activation of this kinase in inflammatory bowel disease remains unclear. We investigated whether Jun-N-terminal kinase activation is increased in inflammatory bowel disease and analyzed the effects of SP600125, which decreases inflammatory cytokine synthesis by inhibiting the phosphorylation of this kinase. Phosphorylation of the kinase was examined in affected human colon using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and immunohistochemistry. The effect of SP600125 on cytokine production was examined in cultures of patients' leukocytes and colonic tissue. Finally, rats received injection of SP600125 (30 mg/kg, s.c.) or vehicle twice daily 2 h before the induction of colitis with dextran sulfate sodium. SP600125 effects were determined observationally and histologically. Colonic tissue contained increased phosphorylated kinase in patients with inflammatory bowel disease with expression localized to the nucleus of epithelial and lamina propria mononuclear cells in lesions. Culturing mononuclear cells or colonic tissue with SP600125 down-regulated inflammatory cytokine production. Prophylactic treatment with SP600125 significantly reduced clinical and pathological scores in dextran sulfate sodium-treated rats. This first demonstration of the pathogenetic role of Jun-N-terminal kinase in the development of intestinal inflammation suggests that inhibiting its phosphorylation could benefit patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

JNK mediates hepatic ischemia reperfusion injury.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Hepatic ischemia followed by reperfusion (I/R) is a major clinical problem during transplantation, liver resection for tumor, and circulatory shock, producing apoptosis and necrosis. Although several intracellular signal molecules are induced following I/R including NF-kappaB and c-Jun N terminal kinase (JNK), their roles in I/R injury are largely unknown. The aim of this study is to assess the role of JNK during warm I/R injury using novel selective JNK inhibitors. METHODS: Male Wistar rats (200+/-25 g) are pretreated with vehicle or with one of three compounds (CC0209766, CC0223105, and CC-401), which are reversible, highly selective, ATP-competitive inhibitors of JNK. In the first study, rats are assessed for survival using a model of ischemia to 70% of the liver for 90 min followed by 30% hepatectomy of the non-ischemic lobes and then reperfusion. In the second study, rats are assessed for liver injury resulting from 60 or 90 min of ischemia followed by reperfusion with analysis over time of hepatic histology, serum ALT, hepatic caspase-3 activation, cytochrome c release, and lipid peroxidation. RESULTS: In the I/R survival model, vehicle-treated rats have a 7-day survival of 20-40%, while rats treated with the three different JNK inhibitors have survival rates of 60-100% (P<0.05). The decrease in mortality correlates with improved hepatic histology and serum ALT levels. Vehicle treated rats have pericentral necrosis, neutrophil infiltration, and some apoptosis in both hepatocytes and sinusoidal endothelial cells, while JNK inhibitors significantly decrease both types of cell death. JNK inhibitors decrease caspase-3 activation, cytochrome c release from mitochondria, and lipid peroxidation. JNK inhibition transiently blocks phosphorylation of c-Jun at an early time point after reperfusion, and AP-1 activation is also substantially blocked. JNK inhibition blocks the upregulation of the pro-apoptotic Bak protein and the degradation of Bid. CONCLUSIONS: Thus, JNK inhibitors decrease both necrosis and apoptosis, suggesting that JNK activity induces cell death by both pathways.

JNK: a new therapeutic target for diabetes.

Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) regulates the transcription factor AP-1, which is implicated in the controlled expression of many genes involved in the immune response. For this reason, drug discovery efforts have focused on the development of JNK inhibitors for chronic inflammatory diseases. However, recent genetic evidence and emerging pharmacological data indicate that activated JNK could be critical in causing diabetes, insulin resistance and obesity. Indeed, if JNK is considered as a stress-activated protein kinase, there appear to be multiple mechanisms through which it might promote diabetes.