Targeting transcription in heart failure via CDK7/12/13 inhibition.

Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) is associated with high mortality, highlighting an urgent need for new therapeutic strategies. As stress-activated cardiac signaling cascades converge on the nucleus to drive maladaptive gene programs, interdicting pathological transcription is a conceptually attractive approach for HFrEF therapy. Here, we demonstrate that CDK7/12/13 are critical regulators of transcription activation in the heart that can be pharmacologically inhibited to improve HFrEF.

Mapping the Degradable Kinome Provides a Resource for Expedited Degrader Development.

Targeted protein degradation (TPD) refers to the use of small molecules to induce ubiquitin-dependent degradation of proteins. TPD is of interest in drug development, as it can address previously inaccessible targets. However, degrader discovery and optimization remains an inefficient process due to a lack of understanding of the relative importance of the key molecular events required to induce target degradation.

Catalytic Domain Plasticity of MKK7 Reveals Structural Mechanisms of Allosteric Activation and Diverse Targeting Opportunities.

MKK7 (MEK7) is a key regulator of the JNK stress signaling pathway and targeting MKK7 has been proposed as a chemotherapeutic strategy. Detailed understanding of the MKK7 structure and factors that affect its activity is therefore of critical importance. Here, we present a comprehensive set of MKK7 crystal structures revealing insights into catalytic domain plasticity and the role of the N-terminal regulatory helix, conserved in all MAP2Ks, mediating kinase activation.

A broad-spectrum antiviral molecule, QL47, selectively inhibits eukaryotic translation.

Small-molecule inhibitors of translation are critical tools to study the molecular mechanisms of protein synthesis. In this study, we sought to characterize how QL47, a host-targeted, small-molecule antiviral agent, inhibits steady-state viral protein expression. We demonstrate that this small molecule broadly inhibits both viral and host protein synthesis and targets a translation step specific to eukaryotic cells.

A kinase-independent role for CDK8 in BCR-ABL1 leukemia.

Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) are frequently deregulated in cancer and represent promising drug targets. We provide evidence that CDK8 has a key role in B-ALL. Loss of CDK8 in leukemia mouse models significantly enhances disease latency and prevents disease maintenance.

Development of a Selective CDK7 Covalent Inhibitor Reveals Predominant Cell-Cycle Phenotype.

Cyclin-dependent kinase 7 (CDK7) regulates both cell cycle and transcription, but its precise role remains elusive. We previously described THZ1, a CDK7 inhibitor, which dramatically inhibits superenhancer-associated gene expression. However, potent CDK12/13 off-target activity obscured CDK7s contribution to this phenotype.

Development of Dual and Selective Degraders of Cyclin-Dependent Kinases 4 and 6.

Cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6 (CDK4/6) are key regulators of the cell cycle, and there are FDA-approved CDK4/6 inhibitors for treating patients with metastatic breast cancer. However, due to conservation of their ATP-binding sites, development of selective agents has remained elusive. Here, we report imide-based degrader molecules capable of degrading both CDK4/6, or selectively degrading either CDK4 or CDK6.

Homolog-Selective Degradation as a Strategy to Probe the Function of CDK6 in AML.

The design of selective small molecules is often stymied by similar ligand binding pockets. Here, we report BSJ-03-123, a phthalimide-based degrader that exploits protein-interface determinants to achieve proteome-wide selectivity for the degradation of cyclin-dependent kinase 6 (CDK6). Pharmacologic CDK6 degradation targets a selective dependency of acute myeloid leukemia cells, and transcriptomics and phosphoproteomics profiling of acute degradation of CDK6 enabled dynamic mapping of its immediate role in coordinating signaling and transcription.

Targeting MYC dependency in ovarian cancer through inhibition of CDK7 and CDK12/13.

High-grade serous ovarian cancer is characterized by extensive copy number alterations, among which the amplification of oncogene occurs in nearly half of tumors. We demonstrate that ovarian cancer cells highly depend on MYC for maintaining their oncogenic growth, indicating MYC as a therapeutic target for this difficult-to-treat malignancy. However, targeting MYC directly has proven difficult.

Pharmacological perturbation of CDK9 using selective CDK9 inhibition or degradation.

Cyclin-dependent kinase 9 (CDK9), an important regulator of transcriptional elongation, is a promising target for cancer therapy, particularly for cancers driven by transcriptional dysregulation. We characterized NVP-2, a selective ATP-competitive CDK9 inhibitor, and THAL-SNS-032, a selective CDK9 degrader consisting of a CDK-binding SNS-032 ligand linked to a thalidomide derivative that binds the E3 ubiquitin ligase Cereblon (CRBN). To our surprise, THAL-SNS-032 induced rapid degradation of CDK9 without affecting the levels of other SNS-032 targets.

Activation of the p53 Transcriptional Program Sensitizes Cancer Cells to Cdk7 Inhibitors.

Cdk7, the CDK-activating kinase and transcription factor IIH component, is a target of inhibitors that kill cancer cells by exploiting tumor-specific transcriptional dependencies. However, whereas selective inhibition of analog-sensitive (AS) Cdk7 in colon cancer-derived cells arrests division and disrupts transcription, it does not by itself trigger apoptosis efficiently. Here, we show that p53 activation by 5-fluorouracil or nutlin-3 synergizes with a reversible Cdk7 inhibitor to induce cell death.

A UV-Independent Topical Small-Molecule Approach for Melanin Production in Human Skin.

The presence of dark melanin (eumelanin) within human epidermis represents one of the strongest predictors of low skin cancer risk. Topical rescue of eumelanin synthesis, previously achieved in "redhaired" Mc1r-deficient mice, demonstrated significant protection against UV damage. However, application of a topical strategy for human skin pigmentation has not been achieved, largely due to the greater barrier function of human epidermis.

Structure-Activity Relationship Study of QL47: A Broad-Spectrum Antiviral Agent.

Here we report the structure-activity relationship (SAR) investigations of QL-XII-47 (QL47), a compound that possesses broad-spectrum antiviral activity against dengue virus and other RNA viruses. A medicinal chemistry campaign initiated from QL47, a previously reported covalent BTK inhibitor, to derive YKL-04-085, which is devoid of any kinase activity when screened against a panel of 468 kinases and with improved pharmacokinetic properties. Both QL47 and YKL-04-085 are potent inhibitors of viral translation and exhibit cellular antiviral activity at 35-fold lower concentrations relative to inhibition of host-cell proliferation.

Discovery of host-targeted covalent inhibitors of dengue virus.

We report here on an approach targeting the host reactive cysteinome to identify inhibitors of host factors required for the infectious cycle of Flaviviruses and other viruses. We used two parallel cellular phenotypic screens to identify a series of covalent inhibitors, exemplified by QL-XII-47, that are active against dengue virus. We show that the compounds effectively block viral protein expression and that this inhibition is associated with repression of downstream processes of the infectious cycle, and thus significantly contributes to the potent antiviral activity of these compounds.

SIKs control osteocyte responses to parathyroid hormone.

Parathyroid hormone (PTH) activates receptors on osteocytes to orchestrate bone formation and resorption. Here we show that PTH inhibition of SOST (sclerostin), a WNT antagonist, requires HDAC4 and HDAC5, whereas PTH stimulation of RANKL, a stimulator of bone resorption, requires CRTC2. Salt inducible kinases (SIKs) control subcellular localization of HDAC4/5 and CRTC2.

Covalent targeting of remote cysteine residues to develop CDK12 and CDK13 inhibitors.

Cyclin-dependent kinases 12 and 13 (CDK12 and CDK13) play critical roles in the regulation of gene transcription. However, the absence of CDK12 and CDK13 inhibitors has hindered the ability to investigate the consequences of their inhibition in healthy cells and cancer cells. Here we describe the rational design of a first-in-class CDK12 and CDK13 covalent inhibitor, THZ531.

Development of Chemical Probes for Investigation of Salt-Inducible Kinase Function in Vivo.

Salt-inducible kinases (SIKs) are promising therapeutic targets for modulating cytokine responses during innate immune activation. The study of SIK inhibition in animal models of disease has been limited by the lack of selective small-molecule probes suitable for modulating SIK function in vivo. We used the pan-SIK inhibitor HG-9-91-01 as a starting point to develop improved analogs, yielding a novel probe 5 (YKL-05-099) that displays increased selectivity for SIKs versus other kinases and enhanced pharmacokinetic properties.

A unique inhibitor binding site in ERK1/2 is associated with slow binding kinetics.

Activation of the ERK pathway is a hallmark of cancer, and targeting of upstream signaling partners led to the development of approved drugs. Recently, SCH772984 has been shown to be a selective and potent ERK1/2 inhibitor. Here we report the structural mechanism for its remarkable selectivity.

Discovery of a potent, covalent BTK inhibitor for B-cell lymphoma.

BTK is a member of the TEC family of non-receptor tyrosine kinases whose deregulation has been implicated in a variety of B-cell-related diseases. We have used structure-based drug design in conjunction with kinome profiling and cellular assays to develop a potent, selective, and irreversible BTK kinase inhibitor, QL47, which covalently modifies Cys481. QL47 inhibits BTK kinase activity with an IC50 of 7 nM, inhibits autophosphorylation of BTK on Tyr223 in cells with an EC50 of 475 nM, and inhibits phosphorylation of a downstream effector PLCγ2 (Tyr759) with an EC50 of 318 nM.

Access to oxetane-containing psico-nucleosides from 2-methyleneoxetanes: a role for neighboring group participation?

The first psico-oxetanocin analogue of the powerful antiviral natural product, oxetanocin A, has been readily synthesized from cis-2-butene-1,4-diol. Key 2-methyleneoxetane precursors were derived from β-lactones prepared by the carbonylation of epoxides. F(+)-mediated nucleobase incorporation provided the corresponding nucleosides in good yield but with low diastereoselectivity.